


The Shadow Proves The Sunshine

by Zoe13



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Anxiety, Depressed Nico, Eating Disorder, M/M, Maybe not the sun but close enough right, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Self Harm, Will and Jason friendship because I love them, Will can make things glow because he's the sun itself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-07-27 08:44:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7611346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoe13/pseuds/Zoe13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everything is telling Nico that he deserves this pain, that he shouldn't take up space and time for the healers. He'll heal on his own- or die. He doesn't care much either way, but maybe the others do. </p><p>Maybe Jason and Will make a force too formidable for even the Ghost King to fend off. Maybe an upset Percy Jackson is a fairly convincing one. Maybe family can be anyone you want.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Starts at the end of Blood Of Olympus. Nico and Will interacted during the battle, but not after. Percy still doesn't know Nico had feelings for him.
> 
> Title from a song by the same name from the band Switchfoot. Give it a listen, it's an achingly beautiful song.

Adrenaline is a powerful thing. Nico learned that long ago. It will carry you through fear, through injury, push you farther than you thought possible. It's also a bitch when it wears off. He hasn't assessed himself yet- he's still processing the fact that they've won, that it's over. If it was bad enough to warrant his going to the infirmary, he wouldn't be on his feet. At least that's what he tells himself as he stumbles to his cabin, leaning on his sword as if it were a cane. His hands shake as he begins to calm down, and by the time he reaches his cabin, he can barely stand. Tired. He's just tired, that's all.

The door swings shut behind him. No, it's above him- since when was he lying on the floor? His limbs feel like liquid, they won't move. With a start, he realizes that his hands are fading again. Terror seeps into his bones like ice flooding his veins. The darkness. He's afraid of the dark. His room is so dark, jet black without the lights on, and he staggers to his feet, unable to use his hands. His sword stays on the floor.

Somehow he gets the lights on, and then he stumbles the few feet to his bed and falls into it. He can't move again, at least not right now. His arm is throbbing painfully where Reyna stitched him up, and he suspects it's infected. He can barely even blink from the exhaustion, and his ribs scream in protest whenever he breathes. He'll think about it later. He's probably got other injuries, but he can't keep his eyes open. He'll just sleep. Just for a little while...

 

 

 

 

When he wakes up again, he's shaking violently. A huge weight rolls from his shoulders when he brings his hands up to his face and sees that they're solid, but they're trembling as well and he knows it could happen again at any moment. He's still in danger of dying from over-extending himself. He thinks anything would be better than dissolving into the shadows.

Cold sweat rolls down his face and he realizes he's going into shock. It's all he can do to struggle the blankets over himself and curl into a ball, shivering and sweating. A sharp intake of breath releases in a groan as he feels a stabbing pain in his side. He may have a broken rib or two. His back feels like it's on fire. Claw marks?

 _Face the pain,_ he tells himself. _It is your burden; your price to pay_.

A couple of deep breaths. Then he slips back into unconsciousness again.

 

 

 

"Nico, Nico wake up!"

Concern filled eyes invade his vision as he blinks his own open. He sucks in a breath and then groans in pain. He tries to pass it off as him stretching. 

"Wha-?" His voice is croaky. Jason is kneeling by him, looking him over. 

"Did you report to the infirmary?" He asks sternly. 

Nico panics inwardly. Outwardly he stretches like a cat and rolls his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Will Solace can be a really bossy pain in the ass."

His grumbling seems to convince Jason, and the other boy grins at the comment. He doesn't know Will, so he doesn't know Nico never talked to Will after the battle was over.

"Are you okay, though?" He asks. "You're on the floor."

Oh. Nico hadn't even noticed, he's grown so accustomed to sleeping anywhere. 

"Yeah, they just told me I'm exhausted from shadow traveling too much." He pushes himself up and schools his features into his normal scowl. _This is your punishment- your pain_. 

"Why the floor?"

"I got a little dizzy from exhaustion." The best lies contain some truth. "Will said it might happen and just to rest as much as possible. I'll be okay."

Jason doesn't look overly convinced, and Nico searches desperately for a deflection.

"This cabin is atrocious." Jason's looking around at it with a slight smirk. It doesn't meet his eyes, though. 

Nico hesitates. Nothing is crueler than false hope, but- but maybe...

"Jason," he says quietly. 

"Hm?"

"You- you can't tell anyone yet because I don't know what this means, but there was something off about Leo's...death. Something I've never felt before."

Jason's eyes flicker with a bit of hope. "Something off?"

"It could be nothing," Nico replies hastily. "I don't want to give you false hope. But it was definitely different."

"We can't find the vial," Jason says excitedly. "Hazel thinks- but we don't know." Nico sees him trying to shut down the wishes in his head. "Time will tell, I guess."

"Yeah." Nico leans against the bed and pretends he isn't out of breath. He's freezing, probably from shock, and he needs Jason to leave. "I need to change. Would you mind- I don't- I don't like people being in the room..." He trails off. It's true, after all. He's never been confident about his lack of muscle definition and the scars- self inflicted or otherwise- littering his pale arms and legs, nearly invisible but still there. He hasn't harmed himself recently because there was no need- he's felt non stop pain since the war began, between the claw marks and fading out and that hunger curling his stomach into knots. 

"Yeah- no problem." Jason smiles kindly at him and Nico almost wants to hug him. Almost. "But I came to get you for dinner, so meet me there?"

"Um. Sure."

Jason turns but pauses at the door. "And Nico?"

"Yeah?" 

"Will you- would you at least consider staying? Even for a little while?"

"Jason..."

"It's your choice," Jason says sadly. He smiles a melancholic smile. "I don't want you to feel as if you're...trapped here, but we want you here. I want you here, Annabeth wants you here, Piper wants you here...Percy- he wants you here. I know that's a struggle, but he cares-"

"It's fine," Nico cuts him off. "I think I'm ready to- to move on." And he means it. He's growing up, and that means letting go of Percy Jackson. Percy is still a hero in his eyes, but he's a hero with flaws. In a way, Nico loves him more but not romantically. Not anymore. That childish side to Nico is gone. 

"That's great, Nico," Jason says, and he sounds sincere. "I mean, you know I have no problem with it. I just think you'll be happier looking elsewhere."

Nico rolls his eyes. "You're such a mother figure."

Jason shrugs helplessly. "Can't change who I am, bro."

Bro. It's such a stupid word, a slang Nico never got used to, but it's Jason being...normal with him. That's how he is with Percy, with Leo. With his _friends_.

He's turning away again when Nico caves. 

"Jason?"

The other boy- his _friend_ \- turns with a small smile. "Yeah?"

"I- I'll hang around for a bit. Just to settle some things, maybe redecorate in this godawful cabin."

"It is awful," Jason agrees with a slightly wider smile. 

"It's just...tacky," Nico says helplessly. 

"So tacky," Jason agrees. "I'll see you at dinner." With a wink and a flash of a smile, he's gone.

Nico nearly collapses  with pain once he is free to acknowledge its presence.

 

 

 

It takes him too long to change. Even he is starting to worry. Jason must have assumed the blood coating his shirt was from monsters he'd fought in the battle, and really there is so much that Nico isn't sure how much _is_  his. He can't raise the arm with the infected claw marks, and he has to peel his shirt off with one hand. It sticks to his back, and he realizes his mistake when he checks in a mirror and sees that blood from three deep scratches on his back had clotted and dried to the shirt and were now bleeding freely again. He forces a few deep breaths to accustom himself to the pain in his ribs. He considers himself to have a high pain tolerance, but broken ribs feel like stab wounds, and he's so weak. But he knows the infirmary is full and he isn't dying, probably. Maybe he is, but what would it matter? 

He shakes his head to clear his thoughts. He's running low on time, and with trembling hands and a lot of fear, he shadow travels to the back of the infirmary, takes a few supplies, and shadow travels back. 

That was a huge mistake. His finger tips go grey and then it starts to spread slowly, his hands turning to mist and shadow. The supplies fall through his hands and clatter to the floor as he fights off a panic attack. 

 _Think, Nico, think_. Shadow- light- sunlight- 

He has to use his mouth to pull the curtain open, but there's no time for embarrassment. He thrusts his fading hands into the sunlight and waits, his heart hammering in his chest. 

It works. It takes up too much precious time, but it works. Nico's afraid that Jason will return to make sure he actually comes, but he almost cries with relief when his hands return to normal. Death he knows- fading into darkness? He doesn't know what happens, where you go. He doesn't entirely know how it feels. 

He attempts a shower and then makes quick work of patching himself up. He knows a few tricks, but it's all simple mortal first aid. He takes a bit of ambrosia but he's very cautious and probably underdoses himself. He takes the large roll of gauze and simply wounds it tightly around his chest to cover his ribs and his back. Then he pours some hydrogen peroxide onto the infected cuts. He barely holds back a scream as the chemicals burn like acid, bubbling and foaming on his bicep. He bites down on his cheek and tears stream down his face, but he doesn't make a sound, even when blood fills his mouth. Then he covers that in gauze just in case, because the wounds are pulling the stitches apart. He'll take them out and sew them up again later. For now, all he can do is patch himself up enough to stay together for the evening. 

 

 

 

There's such a mess of Greeks and Romans and overlapping gods and goddesses for them to be children of that Chiron gives up and lets disorganization win. Tables are crowded with odd mixtures of demigods who either knew each other before or fought side by side and became acquainted through almost dying together. There's definitely an air of mourning, but there's also the sweet side of the bittersweet taste of victory, and Nico even hears some laughter as he makes his way between tables. 

He doesn't think about it until he automatically finds a place between Jason and Hazel at a table that seems to consist of the seven and Reyna- except there's a gaping hole, somehow, where everyone knows Leo would be, taking up too much space for such a small guy and cracking stupid jokes they wouldn't be able to help laughing at anyway. Nico has to admit that he grated on his nerves at first, but he saw bravery. He found the good in Leo too, and he did come to like him over time, despite Leo's wariness of him. Everyone had that- everyone, it would seem, except Jason. 

"Hey," Hazel pats his hand affectionately. "You did so good, Nico. I'm so proud to call you my brother."

"Yeah, man," Percy joins in. "Reyna is telling us about your side of the journey. None of this would have worked out without you."

He may be over Percy, at least to an extent, but his opinion still holds weight, and Nico flushes at the praise from them both. 

"We almost lost him at one point," Reyna says, apparently continuing her story, and Nico suddenly wants to hide under the table. Everyone is listening to her with close attention, and Jason's eyebrows furrow.

"What happened?" Hazel asks in a small voice.

Reyna doesn't even check with Nico. She knows him too well, and she just plows on with her story.

"He was overusing his powers, and he started to fade."

"Like weaken?" Frank asks, looking confused. 

"No, I mean literally fade," Reyna says. "Like his hands were turning into shadows. And then he passed out and I thought he was going to fade entirely."

Jason turns in an instant and grabs Nico's hands, holding them up as if he's inspecting them.

Nico releases a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding when his hands are perfectly solid. 

"Sorry." Jason drops them suddenly. "I forgot you don't like that. I just wanted to make sure-"

"It's okay," Nico says, forcing the tremors from his voice. "Coach Hedge patched me up and I got better."

"Thank the gods for Coach Hedge," Percy says in an amused voice, and they all laugh. 

Reyna resumes her story, and Nico suddenly realizes that both Greek and Roman demigods are crowding around, a few filling the newcomers in on what they missed. He strongly considers shadow traveling away as the eyes watching him feel too heavy, but he knows Jason would come find him and see him fading. So he's forced to sit there and listen as Reyna paints him as a hero. She leaves out the story about Bryce, probably for both her sake and Nico's, and suddenly everything Nico did sounds selfless and heroic in her words. But he's not a hero. He barely made it. He wanted to give up so many times. He kept Reyna and Coach Hedge back when he passed out for days. He almost made them all fail. 

He has no time for further self hatred, however, as Reyna ends her story. By now, everyone had heard about the adventures of the seven. It didn't take more than a couple of hours after the battle for it to start going around camp. But Nico, Reyna, and Coach Hedge's story hadn't circulated. Not yet, at least, but people are already moving on to tell other people and Nico feels like he should jump on top of the table and just shout _that wasn't completely accurate. I'm not a hero_. But all eyes are already on him, and there is no fear, no disgust, no loathing- it was admiration. 

"Reyna- Reyna carried us through," he says weakly. "I never could have made it even halfway without her."

They seem to think he's being humble. Jason pats him on the back like a proud father, and he feels like everyone else is waiting for more from him. 

"How are the gashes, by the way?" Reyna asks when she realizes he's too uncomfortable to say more. 

"Oh." Nico coughs. "Good. They're bandaged right now."

Reyna nods, looking satisfied. 

"Okay, okay," Percy tells the adoring crowd around the table, "you can move along now." 

No one seems offended, and the area clears as they all head back to their tables, talking loudly. Nico shoots Percy a grateful look.

"I'm sorry, Nico," Reyna tells him looking entirely unapologetic. "I knew you'd never tell it accurately."

"You didn't either," he protests. _Shut up, shut up_ , his head screams, but the dam has a few cracks and some things slip out. "I almost made us fail. I caused us several precious days worth of time. I slowed you down. And you know what? I wanted to quit. Every single second I thought about how much I wanted to leave, to just go underground and hide like a _coward_."

"But you didn't," Percy argues. Nico wonders when the older boy became his defendant. "Nico, we _all_ wanted to quit. We _all_ felt like cowards. But bravery isn't having no fear, it's being afraid and still doing what you need to do. The more afraid you are, the braver it is when you push past it."

In some ways, Nico's hero worship of Percy was uprooted by his learning just how childish the other boy could still be. It was with reason- after all, they were all still children- but he had grown up enough to see that side of Percy. But he also sees that side that's grown up too fast as well, and instead of looking up to him for it, he understands it. Percy is sometimes very wise. 

"He's right," Jason says. "I think everyone here can agree that we were all terrified."

"I had to walk into a den of _spiders_ ," Annabeth reminds them all. "I was ashamed to admit it at first, but I was so scared I wanted to just turn tail and run away. But going through- being in-"

"Tartarus," Percy supplies helpfully. Everyone's faces darken. 

"Yeah," Annabeth says softly. "Going through Tartarus just showed me that fear isn't something to be ashamed of, cowardice is. And _none_ of us at this table are cowards."

Nico can't believe that they're all defending him. 

"I thought everyone was scared of me," he says, and then he's horrified that he let it slip out.

Hazel smacks his arm gently. "I've never been scared of you, idiot."

"Me neither," Percy says. 

Frank speaks up again, shocking Nico. "Look, man, I won't say I wasn't ever afraid. But I think that turned into respect. I have a lot of respect for you, for how powerful you are and for how much you've done in this war. I think that everyone here learned a lesson about you, and that's that if anyone should have that much and that kind of power, it's you, because you use it well."

"I-"

He doesn't show weakness. He just doesn't. But right now his eyes are tearing up. 

"You're our friend, Nico," Piper says. "And we're all proud to say it."

And just like that, his whole world shifts. He doesn't know what to do with it, he's scared of it, he doesn't think he deserves it- but he wants it. 

He's interrupted by Jason dumping food on his plate. 

"Come on, man, you can't live off of apples," he tells Nico. Nico looks at the half eaten fruit in his hand and doesn't know how he can eat any more than even that. 

"I'm not hungry," he says, and suddenly everyone's looking at him in concern. "It's-" _back track, back track_. "I'm slowly introducing food again after- the jar."

Understanding dawns on their faces and suddenly everyone's attention diverts as they start up different conversations and eat their food. Nico is grateful. They don't understand the extent of what he feels in regards to eating, but they know attention makes him uncomfortable. 

Jason nudges the plate closer to Nico but doesn't say another word.

 

 

 

He beats a hasty retreat when he spots Will Solace. He's afraid of him for two reasons- the first being that he might let it slip that he hasn't actually treated Nico, and the second being that he was there when Nico let Octavion- when Octavion died. He must think Nico is a monster. He let Octavion die- no, he _killed_ him, in cold blood. 

Self hatred washes over him again like an icy bath. He leaves with a promise to meet every one for breakfast and to make sure he gets rest. 

He doesn't get a minute of sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if they're all OOC, I'm sort of just writing this for fun :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I'm writing this as I go, keep an eye on the tags for any changes. Please feel free to comment, I love hearing from my readers!

The funeral rites are a blur. He pours his heart into each and every one, but when it's over he can't remember a thing. A few demigods thank him afterward, he remembers that much, and he narrowly avoids Will again. He re-stitched up his arm, but it's in bad shape and he hasn't even looked at his back. He uses the pain to keep himself awake and alert, but now he's swaying on his feet. He brushes Jason's concern off with the explanation that it's just upsetting and he needs rest. Jason nods in understanding, but Nico's concerned that he can't keep faking it to him forever. He doesn't have to, though, he'll be gone soon. It was foolish to decide to stay even for a little while. He's starting to feel too comfortable here, though he's still wary of nearly everyone. 

He staggers off to his cabin, hoping he can make it all the way inside. He'd shadow travel, but he's so weak he would probably disappear entirely right now. It's a close thing, but he makes it inside. He wasn't entirely lying to Jason- he needs rest. He'll just sleep for a little while...

 

 

 

Things have finally slowed down in the infirmary. There are still far too many demigods in it, but they're all resting. They're the survivors, and there haven't been any emergencies recently. 

That's when Will remembers. It's not that he forgot Nico himself, he just forgot that Nico must need medical attention, and badly. But he's sure he came in and someone else treated him. The kid looked dead on his feet, the exhaustion alone would have knocked him down before too long, no matter how stubborn he was. 

But he's been wrong before, he corrects himself as Jason Grace appears in the doorway looking extremely concerned. 

"Will Solace?" He says, and Will puts the last roll of gauze on the shelf and turns to him.

"That's me," he replies, "how can I help you? You got your check up, right?" 

"It's not about me," Jason says, and Will imagines that's his tag line or something as a hero- _it's not about me._ Jason seems like a cool guy, though, and Will thinks he'd actually mean it. "It's about Nico."

Will's attention is one hundred percent on Jason at that. He should've known the stubborn little shit would cause some sort of trouble. He'd wanted to talk to him after the battle, but he'd had no time to even think about leaving the infirmary for anything other than a quick meal here and there. He'd maybe sort of hoped Nico would come find him- but he shakes his head at the thought. No time for that. 

"What did he do now?" Will asks. Jason cracks a slight smile but it disappears quickly.

"I'm guessing you haven't actually treated him?" Jason says. Will's eyebrows furrow.

"No, I haven't seen him since the battle ended, except during the rites. I wanted to check up on him but we've been swamped and I assumed someone else had looked after him. I guess that was a mistake, right?" 

"Not your fault, but I'm afraid it's true," Jason says. "He said you cleared him but told him to get rest. He acted so well it seemed plausible enough, but I just went to check on him and make him eat, and he was passed out on the floor again."

"Again?"

"First time I let it slide," Jason says looking guilty. "It was right after and he said he could sleep it off. I- not the time for guilt. Anyway, I need you to look him over, but be forceful. He'll try to leave, but he's in really bad shape. Percy and Frank have him out there and he's still unconscious, but it doesn't look too good."

Will brushes past Jason and into the outer room where the entrance lies. Nico's limp body is being propped up by Percy and Frank who both look extremely concerned. Will wants to ask why they didn't just pick him up, but Jason seems to read his mind.

"His back- he's bleeding through his shirt. We had to be careful not to touch it."

When Will moves around to see his back, he wonders why none of the other healers have whisked him off yet, but he realizes most are at dinner and the rest must be busy tending patients. 

"Okay, follow me quickly. We'll have to lay him on his stomach for now. Can one of you stay to help me? Most of my healers are out right now."

"I'll stay," Jason says. Frank and Percy just nod, mature enough not to argue when it's so serious. They move Nico to an empty bed and gently rest him on his stomach, Frank carefully moving his head to the side. 

"I feel so stupid," Will hears Percy muttering to Frank as they leave. 

"Okay," Will sighs. "He may kill us, but we need to strip him."

"Oh." Jason turns red and Will realizes he's not used to this. 

"We'll keep his underwear on," Will reassures him, starting on the shirt. It's wet with blood from several areas. Jason recovers quickly and helps pull Nico's pants off. There's gauze wrapped around Nico's chest and stomach, and they have to cut it off. Jason sucks in a breath at the most obvious wounds. There are three deep gashes on Nico's back that extend from his left shoulder to his right hip. His arm has claw marks that have been stitched, and judging by the rows of tiny dots by the stitches, they've been stitched twice. They'll have to be sewn up a third time because they're obviously badly infected, but possibly the worst part is all of the old scars. There are literally hundreds, some apparently battle wounds but far too many obviously self inflicted. They run up and down his arms and legs in disturbingly neat lines. Will glances at them, swallows hard, and then moves on. 

"He's got at least one broken rib," He says, pointing to the large and dark bruising on Nico's left side above his rib cage, interrupting Jason's horrified staring.

"Shit," Jason swears. "How was he even awake, much less moving around?"

"I don't know," Will says. He really doesn't. 

Nico stirs and starts shivering. His skin is hot and he's sweating.

"Shit," Will repeats the swear word and goes to grab some supplies. "We need to move quickly, he's getting a fever and we need to get him warm."

"What do you need me to do?" Jason asks. 

 

 

 

Will's hands are shaking by the time they're done. He had to put so many stitches into Nico's back that he actually lost count. The gashes were gaping and they'll be tight for a while. They'll also scar badly, despite Will's best efforts and use of magic and ambrosia. His arm was oozing and Jason had looked a little sick, despite all Will knew he'd seen and gone through. It would have been a little comical if they hadn't both been so tense. 

By the time they're done, Nico's body is half bandages. There are smaller cuts and lacerations that Will stitched or plastered, and he's surprised Nico didn't wake up when he was cleaning them. Nearly all of them were infected.

Will finds him new clothes and Jason helps dress him. Then they pile a few blankets on Nico and collapse into chairs nearby.

"Thanks," Jason says, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.

"Thank you," Will says tiredly. "You'd make a pretty good healer."

"Maybe," Jason huffs out a laugh. "If this kid doesn't kill me. I don't have a clue what to do with him."

"It's not your fault," Will reassures him. "I don't know Nico too well, but even I can guess that helping him is no walk in the park." 

Jason snorts. "He's the most self-sacrificing, insecure idiot in the world. But he's one of my closest friends."

Will glances over at the sleeping boy. His frame is so tiny. 

"He's severely underweight," he comments. "I considered putting an IV in, which we don't have to do often here. Usually we use magic and healing songs, but normally our patients are more cooperative."

"I've been trying to get him to eat, but you can't make Nico do anything he doesn't want to."

"Watch me," Will mutters, and Jason laughs.

Will must look pretty pissed at Nico, because Jason just says, "maybe you could."

 "I don't care if he's stubborn. He's not gonna know what hit him when he wakes up," Will says vehemently. "Obviously the kid doesn't know how to accept help, so we're gonna have to force it on him. Is it a fun way to help? No. But it's the only way." Jason laughs. It's a little hollow, but so is everyone else's. They laugh anyway, because they have to. Will laughs a little too. "Sorry, I'm not usually this..."

"Violently helpful? Seems like you would be."

"Okay," Will relents. "I am. But it works. Being head healer here is no easy task. Everyone's looking at you to fix everything- not just physically, they want help emotionally. And sometimes they ask for help and then get in your way of actually helping them."

Jason sighs. "That sucks."

"Well, I guess you probably get it to an extent too, don't you?" Will says. "You're out there in battle and so many of us look to you to lead us in the right direction."

"It's pretty tough," Jason admits. "I have to act like I'm much more confident than I actually am, and I don't really know any more than any of the rest. I guess I just have to be up front about that, listen to the others, and make sure I'm the first charging in when there's danger."

"Everyone looks up to you," Will tells him. "They all saw you, the other day. Everyone's got this mad respect for how you just throw yourself into it to save anyone else."

"It may seem all honor and glory, but it's not," Jason tells him. "You're doing just as important work in here. Honestly, in some ways I wish I could have been a child of Apollo. I think maybe I would take after healing if I was just a little less of a pig headed leader type." 

Will laughs. "Pig headed leaders are in abundance here too. It's a battle all of its own to work with people like him." He nods toward Nico.

"Well I may be around here a lot if it won't be too much trouble," Jason says. "I know he's not gonna be happy when he wakes up, and Hazel and I seem to be the only people that can even remotely get through to him as of late."

"I'll keep that in mind," Will says. "And don't worry about it, you won't get in the way, I'm sure."

Nico stirs again and groans in pain. 

"Shit," Will jumps up. "I'm gonna put him under for a little longer. He needs rest, and I don't think he'll relax much when he wakes up."

"Do you need help?" Jason asks him.

"No thanks, it's not that hard. Why don't you go rest and do whatever you need to, and I'll let you know when he wakes up."

"Thank you," Jason says, and with a nod of respect, he's gone.

 

 

 

When Kayla had dropped by to ask how Will was doing, he'd said that he was tired and given her a weak smile. That was an enormous understatement. He hasn't slept in a week, he's had more caffeine in the past few days than he normally consumes in twice that time, and he thinks he might be getting sick. He's emotionally drained, and he's pretending that he didn't watch anyone die, not because he doesn't want them to be remembered, but because if he tries to handle that emotional trauma right now, he won't be any help. It just might break him. He can't have a break down, even for an hour. His siblings don't understand the extent of the mess in his head at the moment because he plays the 'I'm fine' game really well, honestly, but they know he's not as okay as he says, so they go behind his back and lighten his work load, telling him that Nico is his main concern now. It wasn't a bad call, Nico is going to be a handful. 

It's probably a little creepy to be sitting in the chair by the bed and watching Nico sleep, but he's paranoid. There's still a risk that he'll go into shock or maybe Will missed something or maybe he'll fade again-

_Breathe. You can't panic right now, there's too much going on. Pull it together!_

He sucks in a sharp breath and puts his head between his legs, counting slowly. In the end, he thinks it's the exhaustion that breaks him out of his panic attack. He's simply too tired and sluggish to think and breathe so fast. He leans back in the chair, closing his eyes and willing his headache away. Things will slow down soon. He can rest soon-

-then he jerks awake and immediately panics again. How long was he out? Is Nico alright? Is he awake? A quick glance at the boy tells him that he's still sleeping, and he breathes out a sigh of relief. He looks at the clock. He was only out for about twenty minutes, it's alright. He'll stay awake now, he got enough sleep.

But something's off. He glances back at Nico and nearly falls out of his chair in his panic. Nico's fingers are faded, the darkness swirling around his palms and wrists. 

 _Shit shit shit shit_ , where is Reyna? Coach Hedge was there the last time- Jason?

" _Kayla!_ "

He sends her off to find one or all three of them and then checks Nico over. It's only his hands, thank the gods, and it must be reversible somehow, but he's still panicking internally and if he hadn't fallen asleep he would have caught it sooner, dammit-

"I'm here," Reyna says sharply, barreling through the doorway. Jason is right behind her.

"Thank the gods," Will babbles. "I don't know- I've never dealt with this before, his hands are fading and I don't know what to do and-" 

"Will, calm down. It's alright, I figured it might happen again. Coach Hedge did a lot of random weird things, I've sent someone to try and ask him what they were, but the main one we discovered was light."

"Light?"

"Exposure to light," Reyna explains. "There were some herbs- and a lot of mud- involved, but the thing that seemed to work the best was any light. Unfortunately, we didn't have much because it was night half the time and we only had matches, but-"

Will is already by Nico's side, hands out in front of him. Reyna falls silent as he concentrates and his hands glow slightly, gaining brightness gradually. He holds them over Nico's right hand, the warm light from them spreading toward the darkness and then mingling with it, slowly evaporating it as Nico's fingers solidify. He lets out a sigh of relief when it actually works. He's always figured this power was stupidly useless. All he'd ever used it for was entertaining the youngest children when they were sick and needed to be cheered up, but in this moment it's almost as if it was given to him for just this purpose. He moves over to Nico's other side and tries it again, still surprised when it actually works. It's draining his energy rapidly, but he doesn't stop until Nico's fingers have been solid for a few minutes. Then he releases the glow and it fades away. 

"Wow," Jason breathes quietly. "That was- impressive."

"Says the guy who can fly," Will laughs, but there's nothing behind the sound. He's barely staying upright. 

"Hey, take a seat," Reyna orders, pulling Will back to the chair and practically forcing him into it. "You look dead on your feet."

"It's a little draining," he admits, "but it works."

"When he's better, you can just take him outside," she says. "Right now I know that won't really work, but once he's conscious and can move, you can get him out in the sunlight."

"I'll see what he'll let me do," Will says tiredly. "I'm assuming Jason filled you in?"

"I filled everyone in so they have time to chill before Nico wakes up," Jason tells him. "I know they're sort of pissed at him, especially Hazel. He's not great at communicating or accepting help, like you've observed, but that doesn't mean it's not offered." 

"Probably a good idea, then," Will says. "Sorry about freaking out, I've just never seen this before other than when I first ran into him during the battle, and I didn't know what to do. I figured one of you had to know something..."

"Hey, it's okay," Jason says, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Maybe you should get someone to look after him so you can get some rest. Most everyone else has had a chance."

"I'll see if anyone's free, thanks," Will says, and then they're gone.

He doesn't ask around. He'll just stay here. He doubts he could sleep anyway, between the nightmares and the fear that Nico will somehow worsen. He needs to keep him safe.


	3. Chapter 3

"You know," a voice says as Nico blinks groggily, "I'm a little insulted."

"Wha-" Nico croaks. His voice gives before the last sound of the word and he tries not to cough. His throat is so dry it would only hurt. 

"Hey, easy there." The voice goes from playful to serious in a mere second as hands push Nico gently back into the pillows. Nico blinks to clear his vision and looks up to see Will standing by the bed. 

"Oh," he says, voice cracking. 

Will smiles teasingly at him, his eyes crinkling by the corners. It's cute.

"Why am I here?" Nico asks, brushing off that last observation. 

"Jason found you unconscious on the floor in your cabin," Will tells him, his voice shifting into a stern tone. "You'd lost a lot of blood and the claw marks on your arm are infected. Badly. Oh, and you started fading drastically. We could've lost you there."

Nico pales at that last one and his gaze shoots down to his arms. Will seems to sense his panic, and he sits on the edge of the bed and lets his face soften. "You're okay now. We know how to handle the problem better, but you need to stay here in infirmary for a few days. You can't be alone in your cabin." 

Oh shit. That's not good.  "I can't stay in here!" Nico protests.

"And why not?" Will raises an eyebrow at him. "Planning on running off again?"

"No!" Nico says, lying badly for maybe the first time in his life. What the hell is up with that? Usually the lies just slide off the tip of his tongue.

It doesn't escape Will's notice, and he frowns. "Well that's just stupid. You're not going anywhere until you're fully healed, and even then you'd be an idiot to leave. Unless you're going to the Roman camp, which I somehow doubt."

"Who says I'm not? Besides, I survived before," Nico grumbles, crossing his arms and glaring at Will. Will is utterly unphased by the Ghost King's glare, which is also new. It's pretty intimidating, and even Jason can't make eye contact with a glaring Nico, but Will just looks him right in the eyes, completely unimpressed. 

"Well, first of all,":Will starts, and Nico inwardly groans. "There are hundreds of new monsters roaming around looking for demigods, and you can't go underground for long at least for a while because you'll start to fade."

That stops Nico in his tracks, and Will smirks at him as he sees the effect of his words. Nico just gets more frustrated. 

"I don't care," he says, "I'm not staying here."

"We can have that conversation in a while," Will says in a tone that sounds as if he's consoling a stubborn child with a false sense of having won the argument. "For now, you're stuck here. And you can't shadow travel out because you'll just fade away."

It's a low blow, but Will doesn't seem to care. He's the ruthless head of the infirmary, he's dealt with impatient Ares children and stubborn Athena children. He's dealt with all of the pain in the ass demigods that think they can push him around because he's just a healer, and Nico can see right this second that Will's blindsided them all with his own stubborn disposition and strength. He's not going to make the same mistake and underestimate his opponent. He'll have to wait things out for a few days. 

 

 

 

Nico had fallen asleep after talking with Will, and when he wakes up again, Will's asleep in the chair by him. He takes a second to look the other boy over and suddenly notices his haggard appearance. His head is tilted at an awkward angle, the dark shadows under his eyes defying the bright light of the sun shining right down on him through the window. They make his eyes look sunken in. Nico frowns at that. Will's so energetic, so cheerful, but right now he looks...exhausted is an understatement. Nico's spent his life learning how to read people, but right now he struggles to get anything from Will. Just exhaustion, and even that's nearly invisible when the healer is awake. He frowns to himself and watches Will's breathing for a few minutes. It's a little ragged, catching in his chest every so often. 

Perhaps he should be a better patient for a little while. It's not Will's fault that Nico so foolishly got himself so badly hurt. He should have gone to the infirmary sooner so that someone else could look at his wounds and send him back to his cabin. Will shouldn't have the burden of constantly watching him. 

"Hey," someone hisses from the doorway. "Is he asleep?"

Nico looks over to see a girl about his age leaning into the room, the door open just enough to let her through.

"Yeah," he says quietly. 

She looks relieved. "Okay, good. Don't wake him up, please." 

Nico just nods. She looks tired too, but not the same way Will does, just like she needs a few nights' sleep to catch back up. 

"Is he...alright?" Nico asks. She looks at him sharply, studying him for a second with piercing eyes. It's not an intimidating gaze, just an assessing one.

"I'm not sure," she says. "He won't take a break, even though I've tried to make him. All we managed to do was take all the remaining patients except you, so if you could please be a good patient, maybe he'll feel a little better."

Nico sighs inwardly but gives. "I'll do my best," he says, "though you really should reassign me. I'm no fun."

"He specifically wanted to look after you," the girl says. "But let me know if you notice anything, would you? I'm Astrid, just ask around for me. I'm here a lot."

"Okay," Nico agrees, wondering when he cared so much. No, he doesn't care. He's just trying to make up for being such a pain. That's not nice, it's just being a decent person. Which he's not. 

He's confused.

"Okay, thanks," Astrid says, then the door shuts quietly. Will coughs next to Nico, but somehow doesn't wake up, and Nico finds himself staring again. 

Will isn't bad looking, he'll admit. He's got a smattering of freckles over his tanned skin, running like constellations over his upturned nose. His blond curls seem to naturally tumble over blue-green eyes, giving him a look that's just endearingly boy-ish, and his face is delicate in a pretty sort of way. But he's not weak, no, Nico can see that. There's something there that's deeper than that, and if Nico really thinks about it, this boy is far too young to be running an infirmary where he is responsible for the wounded that flood in the doors. The number of demigods that come in but don't come out must weigh on his shoulders. 

Will stirs and opens his eyes to stare at Nico blearily. Nico quickly shifts his gaze away, inwardly cursing the flush that crosses his cheeks. No, not the time. He _just_ got over Percy, he is _not_ going to crush on yet another painfully straight individual. 

"Sleep well?" Nico asks, and Will looks slightly surprised at the teasing tone.

"I'm sorry," he says instead of commenting. "I shouldn't have fallen asleep."

He's up before Nico can protest, carefully taking his arm and looking over the bandages that cover the claw marks. 

"I think I'll need to check the stitches and dress this again," he says, but Nico thinks it's more to himself than to Nico. He turns and rummages through a small cabinet, cursing quietly under his breath. Within minutes he's back to his frantically wired self, bustling around the room and then shooting out the door. Nico hears him in the hall, tripping over something, swearing, and then slamming a door open. He's back in a moment with bandages and then sits himself on the edge of the bed.

"There's no rush," Nico says. Will smirks at him. 

"Decided you wanna stay?" he jokes, and Nico just rolls his eyes.

"No, just bored," he says. "There's nothing to do here but watch you sleep." Will raises an eyebrow and Nico flushes a deep red. "It was a joke!" he protests. "I didn't actually-"

"Mhmm," Will says in an unbelievably infuriating tone, and Nico just shuts up and fumes quietly, staring straight ahead and glowering. He'd cross his arms, but Will's currently unwrapping the bandage on one, so he can't. 

"Shut up," he says after a moment of silence.

"I didn't say anything," Will protests.

"I don't care," Nico pouts. "I could hear you thinking."

It's Will's turn to roll his eyes and he just goes back to looking over the stitches. "Well, I don't think you'll be losing this arm, so that's good," he says, laughing at Nico's face. 

"Was that- a concern?" Nico asks anyway, and Will shakes his head.

"No, I'm the best healer we have and I got you patched up pretty quick," he says. It's not bragging, it's just a fact. Nico doesn't mock him for it.

"Well-" Nico swallows his pride for a moment. "Thank you."

"For what?" Will asks as he rolls the bandage around Nico's arm with practiced ease. 

"Patching me up," Nico says quietly. "I should have come in sooner."

"Yeah, why didn't you?" Will asks him. 

"I didn't want to take up space. You've got plenty of people in here," Nico tells him. "Besides, I thought I could manage it."

"Oh yeah, " Will snarks, then in a high pitched voice, "'I can't walk or move my arm but I'm fine because I'm Nico diAngelo and 'tis but a scratch.' Sound about right?"

Nico glares, but there's no heat behind it. He may possibly be going insane.

"I don't sound like that," he says. 

"Sure you do," Will says cheerfully. "But in all seriousness, we're equipped to handle a lot of patients. I'd rather be running from room to room to tend people than know that someone didn't come in because they were worried we'd be overwhelmed. Okay?"

"Okay," Nico mumbles.

" _Okay?_ " Will stresses the word and fixes a sharp, hawklike gaze on Nico. 

"Okay!" Nico whines. "I get it, does the torment end?"

"You are such a drama queen," Will tells him.

"Heard it before."

"And a stubborn ass."

"Heard that too."

"And adorable."

"What the _fuck?_ "

"You've never heard that one?" Will laughs, and Nico glowers, finally able to cross his arms and pout efficiently. 

"No, I have not," he says. 

"Hm." Will doesn't add any further comment, and Nico finds himself inwardly agonizing over what the hell that was. Nothing, it was nothing. "I can feel you thinking," Will snarks at him, and Nico lets out a frustrated huff.

"Do you ever shut up?"

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"Why would I?"

"So people can get some peace of mind?" Nico growls. Again, Will just laughs at him.

"No one's got that anyway," he says, and Nico stops in his tracks again. 

"What makes you say that?" he asks Will. Will gets up to put the gauze in the cabinet and then sits down on the bed again. 

"Why do people hate being alone?" he asks. "It's because they're left with their thoughts. People want distractions from their own minds."

He's not wrong, Nico just wonders how someone like Will could know that. For most of his life he'd thought that there were two kinds of people- happy people and sad people. But Will's already making him rethink that, and he barely knows him. 

"'Misery loves company,'" Nico quotes, and Will smiles again. 

"Something like that," he says, and Nico's distracted by the crinkles next to his eyes again. "Okay, I need you to sit up and take your shirt off."

Nico finds himself gaping at the other boy, eyes wide. "What?"

Will sighs, impatient. "I have to check your ribs, you broke a couple."

"I don't want to take it off."

"Too bad. Besides, we had to change your clothes already anyway," Will says, and Nico feels like an idiot as he suddenly realizes he's wearing different clothes. 

"You changed-" 

Oh no. He's heading for a full blown panic attack right now, and Will seems to realize it as he quickly moves in front of him and grasps his arms gently. 

"Hey, hey, I'm sorry, but we had to. We had to make sure we didn't miss anything when we were stitching you up, okay? It was just me and Jason, no one you don't know, and we did it quickly, alright?"

"Jason?" Nico gasps. They had to have seen everything, seen the lines all over his body that he swore he would never show anyone. He's sick, he's so messed up, and now two people know. People he foolishly values the opinion of. "Did he see-"

Understanding dawns on Will's face. "The scars?" he asks gently. Nico nods furiously, fighting for air. "Yes, he saw. But no one's disgusted, Nico, he's just worried about you. It's alright, it doesn't change anything between you two, I promise. I see it all the time."

That stops Nico in his tracks and his head whips up to look at Will. "You- you do?"

And suddenly Will realizes the problem. In some ways. Nico's still stuck in the past. The idea of self-harm is probably still incomprehensible to him. He may not even know it's fairly, and sadly, common, that he's not the only one that struggles with it.

"Yeah," he says quickly, "I see it a lot in here, sadly. It's common among teenagers, especially ones thrown into this world. It's a coping mechanism. Maybe not a healthy one, but you're not- you're not crazy or twisted or anything, okay?"

 Nico's breathing more normally now, distracted from his panic by this new information. "It's really...not abnormal?"

"Well, not everyone does it, obviously," Will says, "but you'd really be surprised by how many people do it. That doesn't mean it's okay because it's not, you shouldn't do it. But that's not because it's abnormal, or weird, or anything you may think, it's because it's bad for you and there are better ways to cope. It's risky, and it only helps temporarily. Even if it feels like it helps in the moment, after a few minutes the adrenaline rush is gone and you feel the same or even worse. And over time, it won't help at all. It'll stop doing anything, but you'll find that you can't really stop doing it for some reason anyway, and then you're stuck."

Nico's just watching him, and Will's suddenly uncomfortable with his assessing gaze. Nico seems to sense it and looks away. "I thought it was just something crazy I did because I'm a freak," he says instead.

"I think everyone who does it feels like that, whether or not they know it's fairly common. It's your mind telling you it's not right, that you shouldn't want to hurt yourself because hurting yourself goes against what your body is naturally trained to do. It's not crazy, there are perfectly logical, medical explanations for it, but it _is_ bad for you. So you really should look for ways to stop." Will's revealing a lot, but his personal business isn't important when he can help someone. And Nico seems to actually be listening. 

"What do you mean by 'better ways to cope'?" he asks Will. 

"I'll explain in a second," Will tells him, "but I really need to check your ribs."

Nico sighs but gives in way too easily, moving to pull it over his head. His arm protests, though, and he can't withstand the pain enough to get his shirt off.

"Do you need help?" Will asks.

"No," Nico says stubbornly, but his shirt is bunched around his neck and he groans in frustration. "Yes."

Will doesn't mock him, though, he just helps maneuver Nico's arms through the sleeves and then pulls it over his head, the collar messing up Nico's hair and leaving it stuck up in a million different directions. He motions for Nico to turn and then starts fussing over the bandages. Nico can't help but feel self conscious, never having had someone so close to him without his shirt on, much less someone attractive who is also touching his back, even if it's just to make sure his busted ribs aren't going to move too much and puncture his lungs or something like that. 

He sucks in a sharp breath when Will pokes one rib a little too hard and pain flares up in his side. 

"Shit, sorry, sorry." Will apologizes. "I didn't meant to hurt you, just trying to make sure they're in place."

"It's alright," Nico coughs. "Can I put my shirt back on?"

The door swings open just then, and Nico sort of wants to die. 

"Hello...?" Of course it's Jason who would walk in and see Will running his hands over Nico's naked back and sides.

"Oh, hey Jason," Will says as if this situation is entirely normal. It probably is to him. "There's a chair over there."

Jason closes the door behind him and moves to the chair, eyeing the two of them curiously.

"Are you done?" Nico snaps. Will's entirely unphased. 

"Yeah, lets get your shirt back on."

Jason snickers as Nico flushes, and Nico scowls at him. Jason just puts his hands up and laughs again, trying to look innocent.

"Do you have nothing better to do, Grace?" Nico asks, though he feels a twinge of guilt immediately after.

"Hey, be nice, this guy had to help stitch you back up," Will reprimands. "And he's never had to deal with anything medical before."

"It's true," Jason says solemnly.

"I hate you," Nico says. "And you too, Will."

Will just jams the shirt over his head, muffling Nico's swearing. It's a struggle to get his arms through it again, and Will looks way too concentrated for someone just trying to help someone else get a shirt on, but he's fussing with Nico's bandaged arm and Nico hates that it feels nice to have someone worrying. 

"Not gonna lie, that was pretty hilarious," Jason says when they're finally done. Nico flips him off and slowly leans back against the pillows, Will watching him way too closely until he's settled back. 

"Your face is pretty hilarious," Nico grumbles. Jason rolls his eyes. 

"How are you feeling?" he asks. "You seem to be back in murderous emo mode."

Nico sputters and Will giggles next to him. He _giggles_. Nico might die a little. No, he's not a stupid teenage girl, he doesn't find anything cute. _You're adorable_ rings in his head and sours his mood again. "I'm fine," he scowls. "But Will's making me stay here for a while."

"You got him to agree?" Jason asks Will, surprised. 

"Nah, didn't bother," Will says. "I just told him he has to."

Nico's feeling very attacked right now.

"I'm gonna walk out of here," he threatens. 

"Yeah, good luck with that," Will says, right when Nico breathes in wrong and cringes at the flare of pain. 

"Fuck you," Nico glares.

"Maybe later, not right now with those busted ribs," Will quips, and Jason chokes. 

"Oh my gods," he coughs, "oh my gods, you're my new best friend. I love you."

"I hate you," Nico says again, but then he looks at the two boys in the room and realizes they're both laughing like they've never seen a bad thing happen in their lives. Maybe that's why Will's always so cheery, cracking jokes and laughing at himself. It feels pretty good to make people laugh. 

 

 

 

Jason leaves the infirmary feeling slightly better. The guilt from not having noticed Nico's wounds has lessened significantly. You learn things about Nico if he wants you to and under no other conditions. Unless you're Will, it would seem. Somehow the two have hit it off despite Nico's resentment for being trapped in the infirmary, and Jason finds that he really likes the head healer. He's somehow whipped Nico into shape within a day, and he seems to really care about whether or not Nico is alright. That makes him friend material in Jason's book. He'll have to tell the others how Nico is doing and that they can visit him now, but he's glad he got to see Nico without everyone else around. He seemed less closed off, and maybe, just maybe they'll help him get to a good place eventually. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this has taken so long. I'll do my best to update quicker but life is crazy and there's so much drama and I have no friends. I really don't. So hey, leave me a comment so I can pretend ya'll are my friends.
> 
> Also do any of you watch Dan and Phil's videos? I feel like non-demigod Nico and Will would be like Dan and Phil. Relationship-wise, that is. But maybe I'm just crazy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The humor in this is probably cringey and I need to stop but I have no idea what I'm doing and honestly I've been feeling super jittery and anxious lately and I think it's coming through lol so I hope this is somehow enjoyable
> 
> I promise more angst later, this story just ran away with me so please let me know what you think of this chapter
> 
> goddamn insecurity, I am not feeling good right now lol

Percy Jackson has essentially moved heaven and earth several times in his life, so he thinks he's got it covered when it comes to scolding the son of Hades for being a blind, dramatic son of a bitch (he'll send an apology offering to Hades later for insulting whoever he slept with to make Nico). Unsurprisingly to anyone else, he's wrong. The second he steps into the room in the infirmary, he loses all anger at the younger boy and instead feels a strong twinge of guilt. 

Nico rolls his eyes.

"You're thinking really loudly, Jackson," he says, trying to look intimidating from where he's buried under piles of sheets in the bed. Percy opens his mouth to protest but is interrupted by loud snickering. 

"Stop trying to glare, di Angelo," Will tells him, "you just look like someone ruffled your feathers."

Nico splutters. "I do not!" He aims his glare at Will, but all that does is make the other boy laugh again. Percy is confused. 

"Have a seat." Will offers the chair and moves over to a cabinet on the right side of the room. Percy takes it without a word. Nico does look pretty adorable, despite obviously not feeling well. He's completely covered by blankets except for his head, and his hair is a mess. 

"How are you feeling?" Percy asks finally.

"Like death," Nico says, and then cackles.

"Oh shut up you idiot, you'll give him a heart attack," Will scolds as Percy scowls at Nico.

"Not funny, dude."

Nico rolls his eyes again. "I'm alright. Will's smothering me with his maternal instincts and Hazel showed up to yell at me, but I'll live. I guess."

"Damn straight I am," Will says, before shoving the blankets down and yanking Nico's arm out. "Any pain?"

"Well when you grab it like that!" Nico glares.

"Oh quit your whining," Will says, but he's more gentle after that. Percy is still confused.

"So you're the one treating him?"

"Yup." Will pulls the tape off of the gauze and unwinds the bandage. Percy winces as the heavily stitched claw marks come into view, but despite his whining Nico doesn't seem to notice any pain. "He's stubborn as all get out but we'll get him back in shape, I think."

"Maybe if you weren't so rude," Nico grumbles. Will ignores him.

"Well, everyone misses you," Percy says awkwardly. "Annabeth, Piper, and Frank wanna see you. I think the others have already."

"Yeah, Jason's in here a lot," Will comments. It's a little too light, as if he's trying to sound normal about it. 

Percy's a little less confused. 

Then he smirks. "Well, I can see that you two are busy," he says. "I think I'll come by later, maybe bring the others if doc over here doesn't think it'll be too much."

"Not all at once," Nico says, "they're too loud."

"Bring all of them," Will says. "At once. Actually, I'm gonna prescribe that. All of your friends in here, at once, being really loud. Sounds perfect."

"Will!" Nico whines at him. 

Percy can hear Will laughing as he shuts the door, and if Nico was smiling, well, Percy won't tell anyone. 

 

 

 

Except maybe Jason. 

"Oh my gods, dude, how have Will and Nico seemed to you?"

Jason frowns above his glass of water. "Like separately, or together?"

"Together!" Percy sounds way too excited. "Will and Nico together!"

Jason's frown deepens. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." Percy waves him off, deep in thought. For as long as he can be. "I wonder...do you think Nico is gay?"

Jason suddenly chokes, setting his glass down on the table with a thud and spluttering violently. People shoot them some weird looks. "What would make you think that?" Jason asks in an oddly high pitched voice once he's done trying to die via Percy's favorite element. Rude.

"Because that would make things so much better," Percy explains patiently. Sometimes Jason is just too blind. "Apollo's children are like...basically all bisexual or gay or pansexual or-"

"Got the idea," Jason grumbles. "What does that-oh. _Oh_. Wait, like has this actually happened or are you trying to meddle?"

"I'm not a son of Aphrodite," Percy scoffs. "I'm not gonna- but wait, what if-"

"Stop right there," Jason says, suddenly firm. "You of all people will _not_ mess with Nico's love life, alright?"

"But-"

"Perce, please just promise me that, okay? If it's gonna happen, it'll happen."

Percy groans. "Fiiiiiine. But I'm telling Piper."

"No."

"What? Why?"

"Because."

"They were flirting!" Percy cries. "Disgusting, soppy, giggly flirting! Nico was _smiling_ at him!"

Jason just looks like he's getting a headache.  

 

 

 

"Go get some sleep, you idiot," Nico says finally after watching Will pacing. "I'm getting sick of your face and I need to sleep too."

Will hesitates. "But-"

"I'm feeling alright and I promise not to leave or shadow travel if you'll just go get some sleep for the gods' sake," Nico groans. "You need it, I need it, and all you're gonna do is wear yourself out."

"Careful there, you're starting to sound like you care," Will teases.

"Whatever," Nico grumbles. "Just get out."

"Alright, fine, but I'll be checking in early. I've got a few people on the nightshift, so just let them know if you need anything. And they can come get me if-"

"Oh my gods! Just go!"

"Fine!" Will rolls his eyes and then he's gone. 

Nico realizes it's the first time he's been alone since he was dragged into the infirmary, and suddenly he has a childish wish that he could call Will back and ask him to stay. But that's ridiculous. He doesn't need anyone, especially not Will. Just because he's cute or whatever doesn't mean Nico needs his help. He's fine. He's always done just fine on his own and that's not about to change now.

Except he's tired of it. He's really, really tired of being on his own. His dad seems to sort of care about him in his own way but he's never been good at showing it. His mother is gone. Bianca is gone. He's got friends here, but he can't help but keep shutting them out. Will's gone above and beyond what he needed to do for Nico and Nico ought to let up on him some, and he would if he didn't think Will actually enjoyed their banter. But the other boy is obviously insane, so he does enjoy it. Nico's nothing if not good at reading people.

Gods, Percy had been so awkward earlier. Nico wonders what could have possibly caused him to say two sentences and then rush out, but he supposes that in the world of Percy Jackson, little to nothing makes sense and you just accept that. And Nico has- accepted it, that is. He's over that now, and while he still feels a twinge of pain when he sees Percy with Annabeth, he's not so selfish as to be upset that Percy is so happy. Nico never could have made him happy, not with how he himself is. He's a wreck, and he brings death and destruction wherever he goes. He knows everyone was afraid of him, and they only aren't now because Reyna painted him as such a good person, as a hero. It's all a lie and he can't stand it.

And, come to think of it, Will must remember Octavian. Why hasn't he mentioned it? He's probably secretly disgusted with Nico and is just doing a spectacular job of hiding it while he's required to heal him. Maybe Nico should just leave. 

Except the one thing that could keep Nico from running away right now is his fear of the unknown, of fading away. If all it would do is kill him he might not even mind, but what if it erased him? He doesn't want to be wiped from existence entirely. What if people forgot him? It should sound like a good thing, but for some reason it doesn't. He's fucked things up in his life, but if he was erased from existence, he does know that it's possible more people would be dead.

And Will. For Olympus' sake that boy would probably have gotten himself killed that night too. What was that idiot thinking running around in the middle of a battle? He's not weak, he's not 'just' a healer, but he doesn't seem to know how to use a weapon. He's so fucking stupid. It's not like he's not needed in the infirmary, especially in a battle. He should have just stayed there.

What does Nico care? He doesn't. He needs to stop thinking. Will's just some dumb, optimistic demigod that Nico will forget about once he's left camp. That's all.

_Yeah, keep telling yourself that._

He wallows in self-hatred for the rest of the night. 

 

 

 

True to his word, Will shows up early, looking as if he hasn't slept a single hour. He's cheery as always, though, annoying Nico by throwing open the curtains and ripping the blanket off the bed.

"Hey!"

"Oh relax. I could've done something worse, like put your hand in a bucket of cold water."

"What?" Nico blinks at him, unfortunately finding himself waking up. 

"It'll make you pee...? Never mind." Will shakes his head, and Nico absolutely does _not_ notice that it makes his curls bounce. That would be ridiculous. "So, how'd you sleep?"

"Alright," Nico says distractedly. He's not distracted by Will's hair. Curls are stupid. 

"Mhmm. How about the real answer?" Will turns to him, his hands on his hips and a scolding look on his face. Nico almost has to admire the way the exhaustion drops off of his face, the dark circles still there but somehow less noticeable as Will changes his entire posture. 

"Had a few nightmares but got more sleep than the past few nights," Nico relents.

Will looks satisfied. "Well, it's not ideal but we'll take any improvements. No pain?"

"Nope. When can I get out of this bed?" Nico asks, feeling restless. Whether he wants to flee from the confined space or the practically glowing son of Apollo in front of him, no one will ever need to know. It's possibly a combination of the two. 

"You can't walk yet. I've managed to take most of the pain, but if you tried to walk you'd feel it some of it, and the damage to your healing ribs wouldn't be worth it. You'll need a few days."

Nico groans. "Why me," he asks the ceiling.

"Possibly because you fling yourself into harm's way repeatedly with a total lack of consideration toward your own well-being in an attempt to save everyone around you even though you are not the only person capable of doing so," Will says cheerily. 

"Oh, sort of like how you try to take on every patient you possibly can and work yourself into the ground despite there being other qualified healers with you that could also take the work from you?" Nico retorts and then regrets it. 

"How would you even know that?" Will asks, turning away to rummage through the cabinet. Nico notices that he's not actually doing anything but nervously moving around the contents on a shelf. 

"Observational skills," Nico says. "You have no clue what to do with yourself when you're not working non-stop."

"So you're watching me," Will says, quickly recovering and making it a joke again. Nico just sighs a long-suffering sigh. 

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," he says, despite the obvious fact that Will did not sleep. "Speaking of which, did you? At all?"

"Does it matter?" Will prods with a teasing smile.

Nico scoffs. "Psht, no. Though if you keel over I'll have to get another healer and they'll probably be even more of a pain in the ass than you are."

"I am offended," Will says. "I'm the number one pain in the ass around here, I'll have you know."

"Tell that to Percy Jackson," Nico says, and the two of them can't help but laugh. It feels pretty good, as if Nico's a normal teenage boy cracking stupid jokes with a friend. But Will's not a friend, he's just...an acquaintance. Nico won't even remember him in a month or so. 

"I need to go get your breakfast," Will says after a moment, excusing himself and then disappearing. Nico wants to slap the smile off of his own face. He's being an idiot. He's being so stupid, he doesn't even know how he's being stupid because his mind won't let him think about it. What is he doing? No, nope, not thinking about it. He's just hanging in here until he's healed enough to leave, preferably enough to shadow travel without fear of fading away. Hopefully that won't take too long. Will's too annoying to hang around for more than a few days. Stupid son of Apollo.

Will returns shortly with a tray and Nico wants to vomit when he sees the food. There's too much, and for some reason the scent of the eggs makes the nausea worse. He's had worse than nausea, though, so he takes it with a disgruntled _thanks_ and nibbles on the toast. Will settles himself into one of the chairs and thankfully doesn't watch Nico struggle to eat even a corner of the toast. It's no big deal, he's just trying to get used to food again. The time he spent in the jar felt like an eternity, and he feels as if his body doesn't even require food anymore. He'll get over it at some point, just not right now.

The food's all gone cold by the time Will realizes Nico's eaten all he plans to.

"Do you not like eggs?" he asks. "I'm sure I could find some pancakes or something."

"Just not hungry," Nico tries to say carelessly. Will's eyes narrow.

"Mhm. Except I don't believe you really ate anything yesterday, did you?"

Nico could lie, but Will could just ask any of the other healers if they'd brought him food while he'd accidentally fallen asleep. Nico's gonna have to go with the truth. What is it with him and failing at lying to Will, anyway? Is there some curse that keeps people from lying to their doctor? Will isn't even a doctor. 

"I'm sure you heard the whole story of the quest," Nico says finally. Will nods. "Well, when I was trapped in the jar, all I had were the pomegranate seeds, and now I can't seem to eat anything. Well, much of anything. I'm just getting used to it again, that's all."

"Hm." Will seems to be wracking his brain. "Well unfortunately, that could slow down the healing process. You're severely underweight as it is and you need nutrients. I'll try to find some smaller foods for you for now, but we'll be working on that."

Nico groans inwardly. He can fix the problem himself, he doesn't need Will to go back into mom mode and spoon feed him or something. Will disappears again, but he comes back with a light soup and Nico for some reason caves and does his best to eat as much of it as he can. It's not too bad, and Will chatters away as he eats to distract him.

"So whenever we have people stuck in here for more than day, we make sure to keep them busy," Will tells him. "If they get bored, they get sad. If they get sad, they get grumpy. And grumpy patients are the worst." Pointed stare at Nico. "So today, you and I are gonna be cutting bandages!"

"What." Nico glares. "Can't I just have, like, a fucking book or something."

"Nope!" Will says, his giant grin frozen on his face. He looks ridiculous, like some fucking idiot. Nico wants to fight him. 

"What if I stab you with the scissors?" he asks. 

"Well, I guess that's a risk I'll just have to take," Will says, before unceremoniously dumping a pile of bandages in his lap. Some heavy scissors follow, and Nico struggles to open them with his right hand.

Will doesn't notice as he takes a similar pair and starts measuring by eye and snipping lengths. "Make 'em this long," he says, handing Nico the first one he cut. "Oh, damn. Your right arm might be a little weak because you haven't been able to use it in a little while. I'll find you some smaller scissors."

Nico feels oddly embarrassed, but Will just hands him a smaller pair and tells him to get to work. Nico gripes at him about sounding like his mother and Will makes some cheeky comment. 

Nico has to admit to himself that it's nice to not be sitting alone with his thoughts all day, and he secretly hopes Will gets some rest just hanging out here. But he doesn't care. Will's stupid. He's got a stupid face and a stupid laugh and it pisses Nico off.

It takes him a minute to notice that Will's hands are shaking badly, despite Will still talking on and on about something one of his siblings did. His voice gets a little shaky too, though, and Nico has to stop himself from grabbing Will's hand. To stop the shaking, because it's annoying.

"Are you alright?" he asks finally, concern winning over pride. 

"Yeah, of course, why do you ask? Are you alright?" Will word vomits. "I'm fine. Just tired, didn't sleep much. I slept some."

He's confusing Nico with all the words. 

"No, you're not fine," Nico points out. "You're shaking."

"Oh." Will looks at his hands. "I'll um, just be right back." And then he's gone, dropping his scissors on his chair and fleeing the room. 

Nico stares after him. Does Will hate being around him? Maybe he should be rude to him so he won't feel bad leaving him alone. Or maybe he wouldn't feel bad leaving him alone. He shouldn't, after all. Nico's pretty difficult and Will- well, he saw what happened with Octavian. What in Hades was Nico thinking? 

"Hey, stop that," Will says from the doorway. Nico suddenly realizes he's been pressing his fingers into his bicep, using the pain to calm himself. Will strides forward and takes his hand, pulling it away. Nico retracts it quickly.

"Why'd you leave?" he asks to distract himself.

"Dehydrated," Will says. He holds up his hands and they're not shaking anymore. "I didn't drink enough water. Some example I am." He laughs a little awkwardly but Nico just nods and picks up the scissors again, struggling to cut a straight line in the gauze. 

"Damn it," he swears as he picks up the piece he cut and looks at the jagged line.

"It's alright," Will reassures him, "it's still usable. Here, try it like this." And then suddenly he's taking Nico's hand again, guiding the scissors to the roll of gauze again and helping him hold it taut so it cuts better. Nico absolutely does not blush.

"Heyo!" Percy greets from the doorway, looking smug for some reason. The door hits the wall with a bang and Will looks up with a disgruntled expression.

"Please be careful with the building," he says dryly. 

"Sorry." Percy walks in and leans against the wall, smirking at the two of them. Will's cheeks go pink and he moves away, causing Nico to look at him curiously. Everyone's been acting odd. 

"Percy!" someone yells sharply from the hallway. "Don't you dare fuck this up!" 

"Hey Jason!" Percy greets as the son of Zeus rushes into the room. He stops short and glares at Percy before greeting Will and Nico.

"Has everyone gone insane?" Nico grumbles.

"Yup, your turn," Will says. Percy's grin widens as Nico scowls at Will. 

"You're just stupid," Nico tells Will. 

"Well, I'll let you all have some privacy," Will says, picking up the gauze he'd left on the chair. "Keep cutting those bandages, though, Nico."

"Fine, mom," Nico gripes at him. Will shuts the door and suddenly Percy is right next to Nico, grinning like a madman. "Percy, what the fuck?"

"Percy, chill," Jason tells him. "We just dropped by to say hi, Nico. How are you feeling?"

"Doing better," Nico admits. "I'm sorry if I caused any concern."

Percy splutters for about thirty straight seconds. "He wants to know- Jace, 'if I caused any concerns,' Nico, we were _terrified!_ "

Jason seems ready to interrupt him but stops when he sees Nico's face. Nico looks shocked.

"Terrified?" he questions.

"Yeah! Everyone felt so awful for not noticing you hadn't come to the infirmary and then Frank and I weren't able to tell how badly you were doing when we dropped you off, so really we didn't even know if- well, anything."

Jason's watching Nico closely, but while some guilt flashes over his face, it's mostly shock that people cared, so he figures Percy's frustrated ranting is doing more good than harm. 

"We're just glad you're okay, Nico," Jason says, trying to calm things down a little. "The others all want to drop by, I think they're planning on coming later."

"Yeah," Percy agrees. "So, what have you been up to while you're stuck in here?"

He looks a little too eager, but Nico brushes it off. It's Percy, of course he's being weird. "Mostly sleeping before," Nico says, resuming his work on the bandages. "Then today Will put me to work on this because apparently 'bored patients get sad, and then they get grumpy, and grumpy patients are hard to deal with' or something like that."

Jason and Percy exchange a look before turning back to watch Nico cut bandages.

"Interesting..." Percy says.

"Alright, what the fuck is wrong with you?" Nico snaps finally. "You're acting really weird."

"Me? Hm? Nothing." Percy shifts awkwardly. "Just trying to make sure you don't get bored. When can you leave the room?"

Nico stares at him for a good long moment before giving up. "Well, Will says I'll need a few more days at least. I have some broken ribs, and they're not hurting right now but they may not heal correctly if I move around too much."

"So you're stuck in here for a few days."

"Mhmm."

"And Will's your healer."

"Yes...?"

"Is he...in here a lot?" Percy asks. Jason facepalms.

"Yeah? I'm his only patient right now." Nico gives Percy another weird look. "Why do you wanna know?"

"No reason," Percy says, and then abruptly turns and walks out of the room.

"Oh my gods," Jason groans. 

"Okay, what in Hades is up with him?" Nico asks, but Jason just throws his hands up in despair.

"I have no clue. He's insane. I should probably go make sure he's not gonna do something really stupid, like get another nosebleed."

Nico snorts and waves to Jason. "Come visit me later."

"Will do."

Jason bumps into Will on his way out and they exchange a few whispered words before Will shuts the door. Nico's too done trying to figure things out to ask what they're talking about. Besides, he's a private person, so he tries to avoid being a hypocritical snoop.

"So, you and Jason seem close," Will says as he sits back in his chair and watches Nico's sloppy job of cutting bandages.

Nico gives him a funny look. "Yeah, we are."

"That's good, that's good." Will zones out and Nico sighs.

"Okay, what is it? Everyone's acting insane and no one will explain to me why, so why are you being weird now too?"

Will startles. "I'm not! I'm just making a casual observation."

"Yeah, okay."

"Are you two, like- do you like him?" Will asks suddenly. Nico stares at him. Then he starts laughing.

"Oh my gods, Will, oh my gods, I've crushed on some pretty stupid people, but crushing on Jason? He's like. He's straighter than an iron pole! It'd be- it'd be like crushing on Percy Jackson for crying out loud."

Will laughs a little but he doesn't seem to find it as funny. "You'd be surprised," he says. "Not everyone gives off the 'gay vibes' or whatever. And just about everyone's had some sort of crush on Percy Jackson."

Nico shrugs, finally done laughing. "Okay, I'll give you that one. But Jason and Piper are working things out and they're pretty close. Jason and I are good friends and I like it that way."

"But Percy Jackson?" That gets an unexpected reaction. Nico flinches and his smile drops. Will seems to sense his discomfort and moves on. "So, I personally never had a thing for Jackson, to be honest. I have a catch where I have to be the loud annoying person in the room, and I'm not attracted to similar types. See, Jason's more chill, I like that."

Nico's at a loss for words. "Wait. You're gay? Or- bi, or whatever...? And attracted to Jason...?"

Will laughs. "I'm a son of Apollo! Just about all of us are at least bisexual, and most are pansexual. What, do I not give off the vibes?" He waggles his eyebrows and Nico scowls at him.

"No, you're just an idiot."

"Oh ouch, I've been mortally wounded. Good thing we're already in the infirmary."

Nico almost says 'fuck you' and then decides against it. It didn't go well the last time. "Well, I guess I don't really give off 'gay vibes' either, do I?" 

"I don't even know," Will says, "I wasn't exactly sitting here wondering if you did."

Nico just glares again. Will Solace is a fucking idiot. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to update more but I have to admit I'm never very consistent. I do my best to update as much as possible, but with school and a job and just having no energy or motivation, it's hard. I'm enjoying this story some, though, which is really good, and I absolutely love hearing from you guys. It makes my day. Thank you for spending your time reading this little fic :) hang in there and stay alive |-/
> 
> Also, Robot Boy by Linkin Park is my new theme song. Well, one of hundreds. Let me know what bands you like, I'm always open to new music, however irrelevant that topic is to this story haha
> 
>  
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: I'm going to work on adding these chapter by chapter because I suppose I ought to even if they're in the tags, so there is talk about eating disorders in this chapter. Nothing too specific occurs, but they're explained to a character.

"Nico, come on," Will says frustratedly. "I get the problem, but if you don't eat you'll never get better."

Nico swallows hard. He's not trying to be difficult, it's just that eating seems like an insurmountable task at the moment, even the very thought of it causing immediate nausea. Will's expression softens and he sighs. 

"I'm sorry," he says, "I've just never dealt with this before. I mean, a couple of campers have...had a similar issue, but that was before I was head healer."

"Had this issue?" Nico asks, confused. He can't recall anyone else having ended up in such a jar, and even so, they wouldn't have had the seeds.

"It's complicated," Will says. "A lot of mental illnesses weren't known of at least medically when you were born, so you may have missed out on learning about a lot of them. One- I should say one category-is eating disorders."

"What's that?"

"I don't know a whole lot," Will admits, "but there are a bunch of kinds. So there's anorexia nervosa, where someone develops an extreme fear of becoming overweight and actually starves themselves, bulimia, which is similar and often connected but they...um, make themselves vomit..."

Nico cringes. Nausea isn't fun. "So when they have... bulimia, they're scared of becoming overweight as well?"

Will nods. "Yeah, and usually people with bulimia have anorexia nervosa as well. So they starve themselves, but when they can't get out of eating they make themselves vomit it up because the disorder makes them think that they have to."

"I think I understand," Nico says. "So it's like depression, but a different feeling."

"It's a mental thing, yeah. It's not their fault. Sometimes they develop the issue because they need a sense of control as well. It's complicated, and I really wish I could study it further but I'm just too busy here..." Will trails off. "Oh, and then there's binging and purging. That one's a little more rare, I think, but I don't really know. It's where the person will eat thousands and thousands of calories in one sitting and then throw them up. It's hard to explain."

Nico's not sure what to think. All of this is new to him, it's a lot to take in. "What does that have to do with me?" he asks. 

"Well, it's hard to explain, but there are many, many kinds of eating disorders, and I think this technically falls under the definition of 'abnormal' eating habits," Will tells him. "You have the problem of just getting used to eating again, but I think this is also more than that. You can't make yourself mentally capable of eating, right? It's psychological. Your brain is stopping you because for some reason it's making you think it's wrong. I just don't know why. I wish I knew how to help with it, but for now all I can do is try to find you foods that sound less terrible and just...make you eat." He leans back in his chair, frustrated. 

"I'm sorry," Nico says, "I don't really understand either." He looks down at the plate in his lap and his stomach churns again. It's just rice and beans because Will thought maybe a lower calorie meal would help, but even that he can't seem to stomach. He's not sure why and that frustrates him as well.

"It's not your fault," Will says, "it really isn't. It's a subconscious thing, I think. I'm not mad at you or anything, I just wish I knew how to help better."

Nico has an odd urge to reassure him, but he doesn't know why or how. Telling himself he doesn't care is getting harder and harder all the time. He wants to hate it, but he doesn't. Whatever he's feeling has sneaked up on him and won't let him shake it off. It's like his head saw Will and just said 'hey, you have to be friends.'

Somewhere in his mind is laughing at the word 'friends.' Nico ignores it. 

"Can we try soup again?" he asks finally. "That was alright last time."

"Sure!" Will takes the plate from him and disappears, returning after several minutes with some soup. It doesn't smell much better, but Nico suddenly wants to just drink it in one fell swoop or something to make Will less disappointed in himself. 

"Maybe if you talked or something..." Nico says lamely. "To distract me?"

"Oh, sure, I can do that." Will laughs. "I can't stop talking most of the time anyway."

Nico just rolls his eyes and tries a spoonful of the soup. It's not great, but he doesn't gag when it slides down his throat, so that's a win. 

"Just get talking, sun boy," he says, and Will snorts.

"Fine. Bossy. Hm... okay, so before I came here to camp, no one knew I was a demigod, not even my mom."

"How could your mom not know your dad was Apollo?" 

Will looks almost insulted. "He's not always an extravagantly flamboyant egotist."

"Just most of the time?"

"Ugh, you're- well, you're not wrong." Will sighs, but then he grins. 

"Of course I'm not," Nico says.

"Well, don't get used to it. Anyway, in school I was really hyperactive and I always had an answer to the teachers' questions- though it wasn't always the right one- and the other kids started calling me the golden child.": 

Nico laughs and then chokes.

"You can't distract me from my food if you're trying to kill me with it!" he protests, coughing. Will looks apologetic.

"Well," he says, "that wasn't exactly part of the plan."

"Plan?" Nico snorts. "How is someone calling a son of Apollo a 'golden child' not going to make me laugh? And you waited until I had soup in my mouth!"

Will rolls his eyes. "You'll live," he says, "you're talking just fine."

Nico mutters some not very nice words under his breath, but Will ignores him. "Just continue," Nico sighs finally.

"No, I don't think you're appreciating my story enough," Will teases. 

"I laughed at the funny part, what more do you want?" Nico complains.

"Ugh, fine." Will brushes a curl away from his left eye and Nico definitely doesn't watch. "Anyway, one day they got really sick of hearing about how they needed to try and speak up 'more like Will'- oh, by the way, in a classroom full of young kids, never tell them one person is doing the best, it never ends well. They don't try harder, they just get mad. Anyway, they decided to be completely unoriginal and corner me during recess, and they just kept mocking me and chanting 'golden child,' but then they all started freaking out, and I couldn't figure out why. Well, as it turns out I'd started glowing."

" _Glowing?_ " Nico chokes again. "Gods dammit, Will, I'm trying to eat here! What in Hades do you mean you started _glowing?_ "

"Like this," Will says, and then suddenly his fingertips begin to shine, then his palms, his wrists, and all the way up to his elbows. 

Nico's in complete and utter shock as he stares at the boy sitting in the chair beside him. "You- you can  _glow?_ " he gasps.

"I did just say that," Will says, laughing nervously as if Nico could somehow think this _wasn't_ the most amazing thing he'd ever seen. "I can glow pretty much...anywhere, but I don't usually. It's the most useless thing in the world."

The glow recedes until it's only at his fingertips, but Nico can't stop staring.  "I think it's amazing," he breathes, too distracted to pretend he doesn't care or isn't impressed.

"Yeah?" a grin spreads over Will's face that's almost brighter than the glow from his fingers. "It's never come in handy until you started...erm, fading."

"Is that how you fixed it?" Nico asks, unwittingly extending a hand until he's almost touched Will's fingers. 

"Y-yeah..." Will's eyes are glued to his hand as Nico gently touches one of his fingers. "I- uh, Reyna told me they used light the first time, and it just sort of occurred to me..."

He trails off as Nico examines his hand intently, giving up and grabbing it to look closer. There's a deep flush on his face, but Nico doesn't notice. 

"I've never heard of anyone having this sort of ability," he says, completely blind to Will's flustered state. "There are some, like Leo being able to control fire and withstand it, but... this one's new."

"Yeah, everyone thought it was really weird," Will stumbles out. "It's just one of those inexplicable things, I suppose. I mostly use it to amuse the little kids that end up in here, but I forget about it most of the time."

"It's not weird, it's amazing," Nico says. "You're something different, Will."

He looks up and suddenly realizes how close they are, his cheeks burning as he drops Will's hand, and Will can't suppress the blush on his own face. Nico feels like a preteen girl, and he needs that to stop right this minute.

"I'll just...um, get your cup." Will takes the glass from the table by Nico's bed and hurries out of the room. Nico feels a sharp twinge of disappointment and then mentally kicks himself. He's being ridiculous. He shouldn't have grabbed Will's hand- he'd be angry at anyone for doing it to him. 

 _Except Will_ , says that nasty, nasty voice in his head that Nico wants to stab. Repeatedly. _You let Will touch you without complaint. Unless you're flirting with him_. 

Nico just growls in frustration, letting his head thump back against the pillows.

"Nico?" Hazel's voice sounds after a knock on the door. She comes in without waiting for an answer, but Nico doesn't comment. Annabeth and Piper are with her. 

"Aw, Nico! You look upset," says Annabeth, and Nico really wants to tell them to go away. "We ran into Will in the hall, he seemed a little flustered. Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Nico says. "Why are you here?" He feels a pang of guilt at that but tries to shove it down by reminding himself that they're used to him being like this. 

"We wanted to see how you're feeling," Piper says without even seeming to notice his sharpness. "Sounds like you got pretty beat up."

"Yeah..." Nico sighs. "Broken ribs, the claw marks on my arm got infected, and I have like...dozens of stitches in my back. Maybe hundreds. I didn't ask."

"Oh, Nico..." Hazel sits on the edge of the bed and Nico feels himself relaxing again. He can't be angry around his little sister. "I'm so sorry. Are you in a lot of pain?"

Nico shakes his head. "No, Will's managed to make it so I feel just about none of it, though if I get up he says it'll hurt right now."

Piper's eyes are glittering as she stares at him intently. "Will's a good healer," she comments. Nico just stares at her, confused and too tired to realize he looks like an idiot.

"What?"

"Oh, I was just saying that Will's a good healer. He seems to be doing a good job with you."

"Yeah, I- I guess so."

He stuttered. He can't believe that he stuttered. Now Piper's going to read into this and she's going to find out that-

That what? Nothing. There's nothing to find. Nico's got to get out of here as soon as possible, preferably right now.

"I'm really sorry," he says abruptly, "but I'm not feeling well at all right now and I think I should try to rest."

"Oh, of course," Annabeth says kindly. "We'll come by at another time. Do you need anything at all we could bring the next time?"

"No, I think I'm alright," says Nico, and he can't help but feel a wave of emotion at the sight of the three of them all looking at him so kindly. There's not a hint of fear on their faces, and he knows Annabeth is sincere in her offer. "I appreciate it. Tell everyone else that I said hi."

"Will do," says Hazel. "I hope you feel better soon." She leans in to kiss him on the cheek and then they're gone.

 

 

 

The pain isn't as horrific as he'd thought it would be when he stands up, but he knows that after a while anything Will's done will wear off. He'll cross that bridge when he comes to it. He just needs to get to a safe place before the pain kicks in, and then he'll deal with it on his own. He's not at full strength yet, but he's rested enough that he thinks he can try shadow traveling. He has to. He doesn't even care anymore, he's-

He's falling for Will. He can't keep pretending he's not. He's falling hard and so, so fast, and it's terrifying. But Nico, Nico is like a disease, he'll take all that makes Will so good and bright and he'll just dampen it, and he can't think of a worse thing at the moment. He can't keep up this cycle of needing something so unattainable and being selfish in the meantime. He has to leave.

He needs to get to his cabin first. He'll be fine, he can do this, he can shadow travel to his cabin and then maybe just to the nearest small town. That will do for now, he's got plenty of money with him thanks to Hades, and he's good at hiding. He's done it thousands of times before, he can do it. He knows what to do if he starts to fade. 

He takes a few deep breaths, and then he slips into the shadows and travels to his cabin, the air knocking out of him with a gasp as he finds himself surprised by the feeling. It's been too long. He frantically checks his hands, but they seem completely solid, and a weight rolls off of his shoulders. His ribs are hurting a little more now, but it's still not that noticeable, so he limps over to his bed and pulls his bag out from under it. Bending over is a difficult task in and of itself, and he has to sit for a moment as he forces himself to breathe normally. It's alright, he's alright, he's not fading and he's not in too much pain. One more jump, a short look around for a room, and he'll be able to crash for a few days. 

 

 

 

He slips into the shadows, but just then something goes wrong and he finds himself landing on his back with a thud and a loud scream of pain. He recognizes where he is- he's in the woods near Leo's hidden cave. He barely registers that piece of information before his vision starts swimming, black spots blinding him in the corners of his eyes, and then he falls unconscious. 

His fingertips begin to fade. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings- near death experience

In hindsight, Leo maybe should have headed straight back to camp. In his defense, he's always been a distractable person, and having a beautiful girl decide she wants to be with him after he rescues her from a mysterious island is a little- well, okay. So he was an accidental asshole. He's heading home to fix it, if he can, and to let his friends know he's alive and sorry if he was a douche. That he was a douche. Whatever. He'll build them all something totally awesome and show off his girlfriend and they'll all forgive and forget because they're amazing like that, okay?

"You're overthinking again," Calypso teases him. Leo's distracted by the familiar sight of the pattern of the trees around his hidden workshop.

"Mhmm," he says absently as he shifts his focus to a safe landing, lovingly patting the shifting metal beneath him. Best dragon ever. 

Calypso takes it in stride as she's learned to and lets it go. The landing is a little rough, but her curiosity about the world outside of her island distracts her as well, and she stares around at the unfamiliar trees and rock forms. It's beautiful, and she thinks she'll never get tired of seeing new places.

"Enjoying the view?" Leo grins at her, helping her to the ground and putting an arm around her. "You'll love camp. There are tons of different people and lots of different things to do. You can keep busy all you want! I'm not sure where you'll end up staying, but I can show you the Hephaestus cabin!"

He knows he's prattling on, but it's a habit of his and she's used to it by now. He doesn't feel awkward about it with her, even when she teases him about it. He feels confident that she likes him anyway, and he loves that feeling. Even if she wounds his pride frequently. 

"We'll never get there if you sit here and talk me to death," comes the inevitable prod at him, though it's with a smile, and Leo rolls his eyes.

"Ugh, fine, ruin the moment. Well, it's not too far if we head-"

He's interrupted by a thud and a sharp but distant scream of pain. They both freeze, but everything falls eerily silent. 

Then Leo leaps into action, breaking into a run and racing toward the sound with Calypso on his heels. They're running carelessly, twigs snapping as they crush them underfoot, ducking under a branch here and jumping over a log there, Leo's hands ever moving on the invention he pulls out in case they meet any unsavory characters. He's not sure where exactly the sound came from, and he sends a quick prayer up to his dad that they can find and help whoever is in pain. They go what feels too far, and Leo replays the sound in his head again before heading right, a little closer to his cave but further down. 

He stops short with a horrified gasp. Laying in a crumpled heap on the forest floor is Nico diAngelo, but the worst part of the whole scene is nearly inexplicable.

Over half of his body has turned to mist.

Leo's shock and horror freezes him for a moment longer, but Calypso seems to sense that Nico is harmless at the moment and runs toward him, dropping to her knees by him and checking his pulse in his neck. 

"He's alive," she says, relieved, and Leo finally unfreezes. He rushes forward and drops to his knees as well, looking over Nico frantically.

"Wh-what's wrong with him?" He asks, terrified. "I've never seen this before!"

"Neither have I," Calypso says, sounding calm but looking panicked. "I don't want to touch anywhere that's faded...look, he's solid where there's sunlight!"

Leo looks where she's pointing at Nico's arm and finds that she's right. The sunlight flooding through cracks in the trees has caused several parts of Nico's body to remain more solid in random shapes on his arms and face. 

"Light!" Leo sets his hands on fire and carefully holds them near Nico's right arm. He doesn't want to burn the other boy, but the light from the fire may help.

They both watch nervously, waiting to see the result. It's not as much as Leo had hoped for, but it helps enough that he thinks they can stop and possibly even somewhat reverse the effects for now. 

"Okay, I need you to do something for me," he tells Calypso, maneuvering his hands as close to Nico as he dares. "We can't move him, so I need you to run to camp and get help. The healers may know what to do. I'd go but I need to stay here and keep him stable."

Now's not the time for who's the strongest personality. Calypso merely nods and takes the orders.

"Which way, how far?" She asks.

 

 

 

Jason's getting a little tired of sparring Percy, but there's not much else to do for the day and he hates sitting around. Besides, what's that quote about how the real training happens when you least want to do it, or whatever? He doesn't know. All he knows is it's really hot out and he needs a drink. 

"Aha!" Percy cries as he disarms Jason. Unlike Jason, Percy could do this over and over again for the rest of his life. He gets a little in the zone.

"Oh no," Jason sighs. "Looks like you beat me."

Percy deflates. "Aw, come on! You weren't even trying!"

Jason huffs. He should be a little nicer. "Okay, you're right, I'm sorry. I'm a little beat right now, but I'll put more effort in tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, no biggie." Percy caps Riptide and fans his face like a girl. 

"Trying not to smear your makeup, Jackson?" Jason teases. 

"Don't need that shit running," Percy jokes, "it's expensive."

Then suddenly it's like the entire camp wakes up as a young girl comes flying out of the line of the forest, her long white dress trailing behind her. She's a graceful runner, but she's panting badly by the time she reaches the first building and is stopped by someone. 

"Calypso?" Percy cries. 

"What?" Jason takes off running toward the newcomer with Percy right behind him. Annabeth is with her and seems to be trying to speak with her.

"Leo-" Calypso gasps. "We found someone- in the forest-"

"You were with Leo?" Piper cries in surprise. "He's-"

Jason comes to a stop and feels short of breath, but not from the run. Leo. Leo's alive- but of course he is, that sneaky bastard. 

"He's injured-" Calypso rushes out. "I don't know him but he's- he's fading, or something-"

"Shit!" Jason swears loudly. "It must be Nico- where did you find him?"

"Near Leo's cave. Leo's with him right now, he figured out how to slow it down or something, but he told me to run here." 

"Stay right here," Jason orders. "I'll fetch Will and then I need you to show us where he is."

He's forcing the calm, but he runs like death itself is on his heels.

 

 

 

"We're close," Calypso pants. Will's keeping pace with her and Jason, but he looks like he's going to pass out. Jason doesn't think it's from a lack of exercise, judging by the pale face and shaking hands. It's hard to tell while running, though. 

Will's hands are full of supplies, but Jason knows the biggest problem isn't entirely a physical one. He doesn't understand why Nico fades like that. He doesn't understand why Nico won't eat anything. He doesn't understand why Nico would try to leave. But he does understand that they're all hurting in different ways and there's really no time for anger, only for helping and healing. He just hopes they can do both for Nico before he kills himself one way or another. 

They stumble upon them quite unceremoniously, but there's no time to think about it. Leo's hands are burning, but Nico's still about half faded and Jason wants to throw up.

He looks at Will just in time to see the moment the emotions get shut away, as if a door closes behind his eyes. His face is like a clean slate as he kneels by Nico and sets out his supplies swiftly and efficiently, almost methodically. Then his hands begin to glow from his fingertips to his wrists, and he gently reaches out to cradle Nico's face in them.

Leo looks shocked but backs away and lets the fire on his hands go out. Everyone remains perfectly still as they watch. 

Will's face is set as his eyes slide closed in concentration. The cracks of mist in Nico's face slowly draw back in and begin to solidify, and the glow moves down Nico's neck under his shirt and spreads in both directions down his arms. Jason watches in amazement as they solidify as well.

Several agonizing minutes pass, but Nico finally returns to normal, though he still looks unnaturally pale and thin. Will opens his eyes but seems unaffected as he begins to look Nico over, checking for broken bones or internal injuries. 

Finally he packs away his medical supplies and stands up. "He's got no new broken bones but his ribs are in bad shape again. I'll need to realign and bandage them at the infirmary. There's also no knowing if the fading affected him in any new way, and the stitches in his back have torn."

"Do you think he'll be okay, though?" Jason asks tentatively. 

"I can't let him die," Will says, and then he collapses. 

 

 

 

Seven hours later both Will and Nico are still unconscious. Another healer- a young girl named Astrid- has seemed to seize control of the situation and has Will in the room by Nico's. Jason's spoken to her briefly. 

"Will's killing himself slowly," she says tiredly. "It's always work, work, work. He never stops unless we absolutely force him to, and he barely eats or drinks anything. He's just always in the zone."

"I hadn't noticed," Jason sighs. "I've been so worried about Nico-"

"I should've stopped him," Astrid interrupts. "It's not your fault. I'm a healer; I saw him running himself ragged and didn't do anything. But what's done is done. We're trying to get him some rest but he'll probably wake up soon." She glances over at the sleeping boy. His cheeks have narrowed out- he'll look as bad as Nico fairly soon if they don't stop the course he's on. 

"Why's he so desperate to be always working?" Jason asks.

Astrid sighs. "He doesn't want to stop and think. He's always thought a lot, he's always been philosophical and a deep thinker, but he overdoes it sometimes, and he'll pour over a mistake for hours, days- years, even- trying to decide what he should have done. He drives himself crazy thinking about anyone we've lost. Especially Drew, because that was different."

"Drew?" 

"He was head healer after Michael." Astrid glances over at Will and suddenly looks incredibly worn. "He and Will went to retrieve a new demigod headed toward camp when they got attacked by a monster. We still aren't sure what kind it was or just what happened. All I gathered is that Will missed a shot with a bow for the first time in his life and Drew didn't make it out."

A weight settles on Jason just at the thought of it. He can't imagine losing someone close like that. No one can ever be perfect when fighting for their lives, but he knows he'd never live down the guilt of it had it been him in the situation. "So Will became head healer?"

"Yeah, he was the next best qualified." Astrid glances at Will again but seems satisfied that he's asleep. "I'm only telling you this because I want to ask you to help me with him when he wakes up. I'm going to keep him in that room until he's back to full health. Unless he wants to visit Nico, that is. But I'm going to have my hands full and I can't manage him myself."

"Yeah, of course, anything I can do," Jason agrees. He's tired of his friends hurting. He's tired of seeing them in this building. But Will can't ever escape it, can he? Bearing the weight of being a healer is more than learning the tricks or how to be gentle. It's tough, it's ugly, and it comes with nightmares and guilt, just like battle does.

Jason wants to weep for their lost childhood, but he's too grown for that as well. He's too often the leader, not by choice but by necessity, and right now he will channel that authority to help Astrid do the best she can. 

"Astrid?" some calls down the hall. Astrid motions for Jason to follow and heads down to meet with a taller boy who seems to be a healer as well. He briefly smiles at Jason but moves on. "How's Will?"

"Not good." Astrid suddenly looks very upset, and Jason notices her professional mask isn't as strong as Will's. It's a good thing. "He's killing himself, Kurt, I don't know how to help-"

She lets out a sob and Jason feels awkward as Kurt pulls her in for a hug. He thinks maybe he should let them have a minute to worry about their brother without the intrusion of someone who's not known him very long. 

"Will, get back in bed!" someone orders, and Astrid snaps out of it. She wipes at her face and storms out into the hall.

"Where's Nico?" Will's asking another healer, but she just shakes her head. 

"Will, you're not allowed to be up," Astrid says sternly. Will's swaying a little but he crosses his arms and stares at the smaller girl. 

"Says who? I've been out for far too long! I need to make sure Nico's been attended to-"

"My healing skills are just fine, thank you," Astrid says shortly. "Now get back in bed!"

Will's expression softens. "I know you're a good healer. But I'm supposed to be looking after Nico and I'm failing already- I can't-"

"You're not failing!" Astrid fumes. "You could cure the whole world of disease and still believe you failed everyone cause you couldn't bring back the dead. You'll never reach your own standards because they're impossible, okay? You're not failing anyone, we just want you to get back in there and get some rest before you kill yourself in front of everyone that cares about you! You don't have to be our leader right now, we can manage for a little while."

"But-"

"Will." Jason steps in. "Nico's still asleep right now, and when he wakes up I don't think he'll need a healer as much as he'll need a friend. He'll need you to be well rested and healthy to help him get better, okay? If he finds out you overextended yourself healing him, he'll freak out again, and we don't want that."

Will visibly deflates. "I just want him to get better."

Astrid takes that as her cue to leave and Jason opens the door to Will's room and coaxes him back in. "He'll get better, but he'll want your company, I know he will. So how about you rest, and I'll let you know if he wakes up, okay?" 

"You promise you'll let me know?" Will asks, staring him down but obviously caving. It's no wonder- he can barely stand.

"I will," Jason says. He'd hate to wake Will up but it's the only way to get him to rest.

Will sighs, but he collapses into the bed and curls up into a ball.

"Oh, and Will- it's not your fault. Nico always panics when he feels too happy. But he'll learn."

Will response is only a mumble, so Jason shuts the door behind him. 


	7. Chapter 7

Jason stays late at the infirmary, but Astrid finally convinces him to get some sleep with the promise that she'll let Will know if Nico wakes up. However, Nico's still not awake when Jason gets back after sleeping and catching up with Leo. Will's in Nico's room, sitting in the usual chair by his bed and letting his hand twitch next to Nico's motionless one as if he wants to hold it. Jason stops in the doorway when he realizes with jolt of surprise that Will's crying. 

"Why'd you run off, you idiot?" he chokes, oblivious to Jason's presence. "We were just getting somewhere, you were laughing and talking and- and-"

He buries his face in the sheets. Jason's not entirely sure that Will's breakdown is all about Nico. He obviously cares greatly for the other boy, but Jason can almost see the years of guilt and pressure tumbling down on Will right now, and he thinks he understands. Nico just brought it all out, forced Will to face it head on, but the other boy is still trying to focus on anyone but himself.

"Hey," Jason says softly, closing the door and coming up to Will. He sets a gentle hand on the other boy's shoulder, and to his surprise, Will doesn't jump up and pretend nothing happened. 

"I'm sorry," he says instead. It's a little watery, but they've all learned the art of crying quietly to yourself, and he calms down quickly. "I'm being a pain."

"No, you're not," Jason reassures him. He's not good at this. He's not used to trying to comfort people or understand. But that doesn't matter- he picks up the slack where he can and does his best, experience be damned. "You've got a lot going on and you're not looking after yourself either. But you're not being a pain, because people care about you. Everyone just wants you to get better. You're allowed to need some time for yourself."

Will sits up slowly and slumps against the back of his chair, his face tear tracked. "I was so scared," he admits. "I'm out of my depth with him and he was fading right in front of me, and- I panicked. I fucking panicked _again_." He sounds so utterly disgusted with himself that Jason can only imagine he's remembering Drew- that maybe a younger Will fumbled with his weapon through fear and then watched his older brother die right in front of him. 

"You were scared?" Jason says. "So was I. I was so terrified, and all I could do was stand and watch and pray that you could help. And guess what? You did. You saved Nico's life for probably the second time when no one else could have, Will. Even Leo's powers only kept him from fading further, and I don't know how long it would have helped. We couldn't have moved him. You were the only one who could save him, and you did. You're allowed to panic, you know why?"

Will just shakes his head, confused. "I'm the head healer, I-I can't-"

"You're a _teenager_ ," Jason says maybe a little hysterically. "We're _kids_. Most people don't reach your skill level until they're in their late twenties. Most people don't have other people's lives in their hands until they're adults, or maybe even never in their entire lifetime. But you- and everyone else in this camp and over at Camp Jupiter- got the short end of it. We have to fight and kill and heal and do whatever we can to survive with few to no adults to help us. So yeah, we fuck things up sometimes. Yeah, we make mistakes or can't think fast enough or fumble or hesitate where we can't afford to. We're just kids, Will, we're too young for this shit. The gods owe us a hell of an afterlife after this, and they can be pissed I said that all they want but _they know I'm right_." 

No lightning strikes Jason down, so he thinks he's good, but to be honest he doesn't really care a whole lot right now. Nico's hurting. Will's hurting. Fuck, Jason's hurting. Everyone in the damn camp is hurting and it's the fault of the gods, so what do they do? They desert them. Or even worse, they meddle and make things more difficult. He's _tired_ of it. 

Will's staring at him, tears still on his face but a curious look in his eyes. "I know it's hard on you too," he says. Jason wants to shake his head and say he's trying to help Will out here, but that's _how_ he can help, isn't it? Admit his shortcomings and weaknesses and how they make him afraid. 

"It is," he says instead. "We're all struggling, and I don't say that to belittle what you feel, I say that to let you know we're allowed to. We're allowed to be terrified. But we do have to keep going, help each other along the way all we can. And it's hard to really help someone when you won't let them help you as well."

"So if I let you help me, you'll let me help you?" Will asks.

"I think that's called being friends," Jason tells him with a warm smile.

Will smiles tentatively back at him. "I think I'd like that."

"Nico's alright for now," Jason tells him. "So, well, why don't we get some lunch?"

Will looks over at the sleeping boy and sighs. "I should, shouldn't I?"

"Yes," Jason says, "you should. Everyone here's supposed to make sure he doesn't leave. He'll be fine."

Will finally caves and follows him out of the room. They stop to let Astrid know their plans and then they head to the dining hall, Will quietly in step beside Jason. Percy's already waiting for Jason at a table, and he seems utterly unphased by Will's presence, only stopping him to thank him sincerely for helping Nico out. 

"No, really, man," he says when Will tries to brush it off. "No one else could've done it. Trust me."

Jason hides a smile when Will seems a little happier after that. Percy's good at keeping up a steady stream of chatter, and he and Jason manage to distract Will from thinking too much. Percy's more observant than people believe at first, and he picks up on Jason's subtle hints. 

"You really need to hang out with us sometimes," Percy says after a bit. "We could teach you some swordfighting!"

Will laughs. "I'm not so good with a sword," he says, "I'm a little weak."

"Nonsense," Percy scoffs. "No one has to _stay_ weak. And I doubt you are, you just coop yourself up in that building all day. I see everyone else out and about, you need more sunlight."

"Everyone needs sunlight," Will grumbles.

"You _are_ a son of Apollo, aren't you?" Percy demands. "You've gotta get out and see your dad every once in awhile!" 

Will just chokes on his food.

 

 

 

Percy doesn't bring Nico up again until they're just about done eating, and to be honest, Jason's a little surprised at his restraint. He's obviously been bursting with excitement over his new notion of matchmaking the two, and Jason can't really do much but sit back and drag him off if he goes overboard. Which is every time he talks to anyone, really. 

"How have you and Nico gotten along?" Percy asks, and Will seems surprisingly calm about the conversation, so Jason lets it be. If Will starts getting down about it again, he'll change the subject.

"Alright," he says. "It sort of depends. I don't know if I somehow made him mad before he left or not, but I can't think of anything I said that could possibly have made him angry enough to leave..."

"Oh, I highly doubt it's that," Percy says hastily. "Nico seemed to like you a lot."

"Really?"

Percy nods solemnly. "A _lot_." 

"Now, let's not jump the gun here," Jason laughs awkwardly, butting in. No matter how certain he feels about, well, Nico's _feelings_ , he's not going to let anyone get hurt by possibly false information, just in case. 

"Of course not," Percy says innocently. "I was just saying I think it's interesting that they've become _such_ good _friends_." 

Will just splutters and starts to scold Percy, but Jason quite enjoys watching it. Will's distracted, but not pushing himself, and maybe Percy actually has the right idea here. Jason just decides to go with his gut instincts and jump in headfirst Percy Jackson Style (TRADEMARK, COPYRIGHT 2005. WARNING- NOT ADVISED FOR NON DEMIGODS OR THOSE WITH A BRAIN OR WILL TO LIVE). 

Oh well.

"You know, I did sort of notice that Nico wouldn't really talk about much when I visited him," Jason 'innocently' muses. 

Will looks at him sharply. "Why not? I mean I know he tried to leave and everything, but he actually seemed a bit better before that-"

"Well, not about much other than Will here, of course," Jason interrupts, and Percy gets a scarily mischievous look on his face as Will pauses and flushes bright red. 

"Yeah," Percy adds dramatically, "he could barely talk about anything else. It was just "Will this" and "Will that" the whole time. "Will's so funny, Will makes me laugh" and so on." He lets out a giggle so ridiculous Jason isn't sure if it's part of his horrific impression of Nico or actually a sound he makes when being a little shit. He doesn't know if he _wants_ to know. 

"Nico doesn't sound like that," Will grumbles. He's still really red, though. "And he only laughs cause I'm an idiot."

"Nah, Nico's used to idiots," Jason says. "He's hung out with Percy enough that it doesn't make him laugh anymore."

Will can't help but snort at that and Percy looks mock offended.

"Bro!" he protests, a hand over his heart.

"Sorry bro, it had to be said," Jason tells him solemnly, and Will full on laughs. Percy can't help but look proud of himself for that, and Jason just rolls his eyes.

"Come on, lover boy," he says finally, "let's go see sleeping beauty again."

"Wh-what?" Will splutters, and Percy bursts out into obnoxiously hysterical laughter. Jason stacks their plates on Percy's and drags Will off, smirking at Percy's delayed _hey wait a minute you jerk_  at the work left for him. 

 

 

 

Nico's completely out of it when he finally opens his eyes. He feels as if he's been sleeping for a year, and yet he's still tired. Everything is too bright, and he realizes with a groan that he's back in the infirmary, the very place that he was trying to avoid. Will's probably so pissed at him. 

The answer to that not-question comes in the form of the boy himself as he enters the room with Jason, stopping short and staring at Nico for a minute. Then that uncomfortably professional mask slides right onto his face.

"How are you feeling?" he asks Nico pleasantly, as if nothing had happened. What _did_ happen?

"Like I've been sleeping for a year," Nico says, genuinely surprised his voice is working. Will gets him a glass of water anyway, for which he's grateful. 

"You've been out for a day," Jason tells him, taking the chair closest to the bed. "Mind explaining just where you were going?"

Nico winces. Yes, yes he minds. He doesn't feel like explaining that realizing he has feelings of some ridiculous sort for Will made him have a little drama queen fit and try to leave- though he still stands by his decision, actually. Will's already acting weird with him which is to be expected, he supposes, since he did try to run off when Will was being so nice to him. 

Too nice.

Nico can't stay where people are too nice, it doesn't work. It just doesn't.

_Or you don't let it._

_Shut up_ , he wants to say, but he might say it out loud and then he'd really look insane. Not that he doesn't already, what with the running off and crazy powers and everything else that comes with being Nico diAngelo.

"You seem fine for now," Will interrupts the silence. "I'm going to give you two some peace, I'll come back and look you over more thoroughly later."

He's gone before either Jason or Nico can protest, and while Nico doesn't _dislike_ Will ( _oh come on, that's no way to describe it, Nico_ ), he's pretty sure Jason will get the truth, or even part of it, out of him at some point, and he's a little relieved Will left. Him being there for that conversation would really not be good. 

Jason doesn't repeat the question, he just crosses his arms in a nonthreatening manner and leans back into his chair, waiting. 

Nico really doesn't want to cave.

"There's nothing to explain," he says. "I just felt claustrophobic and wanted to leave."

"Except you can't," Jason says a little tensely. "And I know you, there's always more to the story than you say. Between you and Will, I'll have to just drag information out of you tortuously slowly until I have enough to work with, and since I'll get it in the end, you may as well save us both the time and peace of mind and just tell me."

Nico starts at the mention of Will, and seems nervous that Jason brought him up him whilst discussing Nico's running off. That gets Jason's mental gears going. He's a fairly good judge of character, and he feels that he can safely rule out Will making Nico deliberately uncomfortable. He's done an amazing job at keeping Nico safe and on the road to healing, even if Nico did set it back by running off, so that's simply a groundless explanation. Nico seems uncomfortable here for _some_ reason, though, and Jason suddenly thinks he might know why. 

"You know, getting close to people isn't always a bad thing," he says softly. Nico's fidgeting, his eyes glued to his nervously twitching hands, and Jason knows he's hit the mark. "Whether it's friends, or...something else, people need other people. Especially us demigods. We have to work together, Nico, and we've got each other's backs."

"I know," Nico says a little hoarsely. He sighs, the tense line of his shoulders breaking as he gives in. "I don't want to ruin this place, Jason. It's so beautiful, and I didn't see it before when I was convinced that everyone hated me more than they actually did, but this time I do. It's so bright, even after all of the ugliness, and all I bring with me is darkness and gloom."

 "You don't _bring_ it, Nico," Jason says, "you come in behind it. You haven't caused it, you've been crucial in driving it away. Just because your powers scare a few people doesn't mean they're bad. Frank was right, if anyone should have that kind of power, it's you. And I know Percy's powers may seem cooler, but he got some shit about it as well, being the first child of one of the Big Three in a long time and all that. You're not going to ruin anything unless you leave, and then all you're ruining is the friendships people are trying to build with you. I'm not trying to guilt trip you here- if you want to leave when you've fully healed, you'll be free to do so. But I want you to know that many people here want to get to know you better, and you _do_ deserve it."

"But-"

"Hey. I know I can't say one magic sentence and make you change your mind because words really don't mean as much as actions. So would you do one thing for me and just try to temporarily forget all of the bad things that you think about yourself for long enough to see if you like it here? Because we really, really want you to stay. We really do. And you scared the shit out of Will."

Nico looks a little guilty at that. "I didn't mean to, I was just- I was afraid." Jason looks sympathetic, but it's not annoying. It actually makes Nico want to tell him more. "Everything still feels new to me, I... I'm not used to any of this."

"I know," Jason says gently. "I'm not asking you to be used to it, I'm just asking you to hang in here and let us try to help you. Not because we feel obligated to, but because we want to."

Nico takes a deep breath and tries to calm himself. These days it's like there's two of him- the one that gets lost in feeling like he belongs and the one that suddenly screams at him that he needs to leave, that he doesn't deserve any of this. Right now he knows he's dying to stay, has almost never wanted anything more, but he also knows that at any moment that could change, that he could want to run as far away as possible. But the second isn't what he ever wants, not really. It's just what he thinks he has to do.

"I don't know what will happen," he says finally. "I just- I don't know."

"Nico, it's okay," Jason says firmly but kindly. "You don't need to know. None of us know either. You just need to calm down and let us take care of you, okay? Can you do that, please?"

Nico feels himself caving in even though his mind is telling him it's a bad, bad idea. But he can't help himself right now- Jason looks so sincere and Nico's still in a lot of pain from whatever happened when he was out and he just doesn't want to leave. 

He doesn't have to.

So he's not going to.

"I'll try," he says. "No promises, but I'll try."

"That's all I'm asking for," Jason says with a light smile. "Now that that's out of the way, how are you feeling?"

"A little confused still," Nico admits. "I don't really know what happened."

"Oh." Jason shifts, looking uncomfortable. "Let me get Will and we can explain."

Nico doesn't really like the sound of Jason's tone, and he waits nervously as Jason leaves to get Will. He returns shortly, and Nico wants to yell at Will to _get that awful detached look off of his face_ because it really doesn't suit him. Will's usually smiling, and Nico misses it.

"Well?" Nico asks, wincing at his accidentally sharp tone. 

Jason sighs. "You ended up shadow traveling next to Leo's cave, where you fell unconscious and started fading."

Nico pales. "How badly?"

"By the time we found you, you had almost half faded," Will says seriously. Jason knows he doesn't really want to scare Nico, but the severity of the situation is very important to stress, especially when they need to prevent it from reoccurring. 

Nico looks like he might be sick, and Will's professional mask slips a little as concern shines through. 

"How did you find me?" he asks finally. 

Jason lights up. "Oh!" he says, facepalming. "That's the good part!"

Nico looks taken aback at the sudden mood change. "What?"

"Leo found you!" Jason says excitedly. "He came back with the girl he met on the island- Calypso. You were right about his death being weird. He's perfectly healthy and here at camp."

A smile spreads over Nico's face and he forgets all about the pain in his ribs. "Really? That's great! Jason, why didn't you lead with that?"

Will snorts at that and if Nico smiles a little wider, Jason doesn't comment on it. "I'll make him drop by later or tomorrow, I promise," he says instead. 

"He also saved your life," Will adds. "You were stuck in the shade of the trees, but he used the light from his fire to keep you stable until Calypso came and got us. I don't know-" he stops. "It's good that he was there."

He's looking really pale, and Nico frowns in concern, but Jason beats him to it. "Will, sit down for crying out loud, we don't need you passing out again."

"Again?" Nico's eyes widen. "When did that happen? Why aren't you resting or something?" 

He stops himself, but Jason's looking at him with a knowing gleam in his eyes. Nico doesn't quite like it. 

"I'm fine," Will says shortly. "I just needed to catch up on some sleep, and now I have."

Jason rolls his eyes. "You're behind like five years, dude. Sit down."

He pulls up a chair and practically forces Will into it, and frowns again when he gives up and stops complaining. That's not a good sign. 

"Anyway," Jason continues, "now you're both stuck in here because Will's supposed to be in the next room getting rest, and Nico, your healer's been changed."

"I'm gonna contest that," Will says sulkily. "They already took away all the other work I have except for the paper work."

"Good luck," Jason tells him cheerily, "but it won't do you any good. And thanks for mentioning the paper work, I'll make sure Astrid's aware that you're still trying to do it."

Will groans and flops back into his chair, but he's really not looking good, and Nico wants to shake him for not taking care of himself. 

"You need some rest," he says, and Will snorts again. 

"Says the guy who tried to run off with several broken ribs," he shoots back, but Nico isn't phased one bit. The tables have turned, it would seem, and Nico is just as stubborn as Will. 

"I may not be able to actually get up and shake you, but I can always ask Jason to," he says.

"I'm not shaking any sick people," Jason protests. "I will make him get in bed, though. Come on Will, you can come back tomorrow."

"I'm fine," Will stresses, standing up and moving away from Jason. "I need something to do or I'll go crazy."

"Now that's not healthy. Teenage boys are the best at doing nothing, after all." Jason stands up and stretches. "You really need to rest, Will."

Will just hunches in on himself, looking defeated. Nico doesn't know what's got him so down, but it just doesn't seem right. He lets Jason lead him out of the room without further protest, and Nico hates it. 

He looks expectantly at Jason when the other boy returns, and Jason sighs before settling into the chair again.

"I don't know much," he says, "just that he's been overworking himself for years over things he couldn't help and it's catching up to him now. And, like I said, you scared the shit out of him."

Nico looks guilty at that. "I'm sorry," he says. "I wasn't really thinking."

"I know." Jason smiles teasingly at him. "It's okay. Will's getting the rest he needs whether he likes it or not, which is a good thing, okay? Maybe you two can hang out and keep each other distracted from all of your overthinking."

Nico valiantly fights off a blush. He's not going to make himself look like an idiot. He's _not_. 

"I do want to see Leo when I can," he says. "I still can't believe he's okay."

He's not lying, he _does_ want to see Leo, but Jason also isn't stupid and sees Nico changing the subject. 

Nico remembers why he likes him when he goes along with it, though. 

"I'll let him know. He said he wants to stop by, but he's been a little overwhelmed since he got back," Jason laughs. "He's one of everybody's new heroes, don't you know."

"He deserves it," Nico says, and he means it wholeheartedly. 

"Yeah, he really does," Jason says with a smile. 

And just like that they fall into easy conversation, a few sad moments remembered and a few jokes to lighten the mood that makes Nico feel a little more grounded. Jason is very real, and he finds himself thinking that he can trust him. 

Maybe he can trust him when he says Nico is allowed to stay here.

Besides, if Nico leaves, he can't help make sure Will gets all the rest he needs to recover from whatever's stolen his smile. Nico doesn't like that one bit, and he wants to fix it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> QUESTION TIME: Where are y'all from? I'm just curious. You can say country, state, planet, whatever. Or nothing if you're not comfortable saying. I'm just bored lmao I'm from Indiana

"You've got to hurry up and get better," Leo scolds. Nico rolls his eyes.

"Now Leo, why in Hades would I want to do that?"

"Because I'm working on something new that you've got to see!" Leo explains impatiently, somehow missing the sarcasm in his excitement. Nico forces himself not to roll his eyes again. "And you freaked everyone out, man, I mean Will- I don't even know Will- but Will was white as that freakin' sheet."

Why does everyone keep bringing Will up? He's not Nico's only, well,  _friend_ \- wasn't Jason worried? Or Percy? Why always  _Will?_

"Yeah, yeah, I've apologized. I'm not gonna try to go shadow traveling for a long time, alright? Does that make you happy?"

"Yup," Jason butts in, catching the tail end of what Nico's saying as he enters the room. "I told Astrid I'd bring your food in, is that alright?"

"No, I won't eat it if you bring it in," Nico teases. Who is he anymore, really?

"Oh?" Jason smirks. "Shall I go get Will and have him present it to you?"

Nico flushes and Leo cackles. "No! I was kidding, you jerk. Rude."

"I dunno," Jason says thoughtfully, "maybe he'd be willing to spoon feed it to you."

"If you're gonna be like that," Nico pouts, crossing his arms as Leo completely loses it a few feet away. Jason smiles teasingly and sets the tray in his lap, but Nico still has to force himself to ignore the panic in his head as he picks up the fork. It's an Italian pasta, but it still doesn't look even remotely appetizing. He's just not hungry, even if his stomach keeps growling. Jason's smile drops as Nico pokes despairingly at the food. 

"I've gotta go make sure Calypso isn't getting overwhelmed," Leo says, not noticing Nico's discomfort. "I'll try to come by again later, if you want."

"Sure," Nico smiles weakly at him. "Thanks for stopping by."

"Would a different food choice be better?" Jason says when Leo's gone. Nico shakes his head.

"No, it's not what sort of food it is as much as whether or not it's food. No food sounds good."

"I'm sorry." Jason sits in the chair with a sigh. "I wish I knew how to help."

"It's not your fault," Nico tells him. Then he looks at him a little closer. Jason looks completely worn out, staring absently at the plate in Nico's lap. "Has this been bothering you?

"No, I-" Jason stops. Then he sighs again. "Of course it has, Nico. I just want you to get it through that thick skull of yours that we all  _care_ about you and want you to be happy. We want you to stay here- if you want to of course. You're free to leave the day you're cleared, but we all like you. We all want to be friends with you. And if you say we just don't know you enough, then, well, let us  _get_ to know you and then we can decide for ourselves."

"I'm trying to understand," Nico says after a moment's silence. "I'm working on it, Jason, I promise. I'll do better."

"I'm not trying to make you feel guilty," Jason says gently. "Just trying to make sure you know."

Nico just nods, and then tries to take a bite of his food. He manages to swallow it, but his gag reflex kicks in and he lurches forward, barely keeping it down.

"Shit!" Jason leaps forward but then pauses when nothing comes up. "Dammit."

"What's going on?" Will asks from the doorway, and Nico feels himself flushing with embarrassment. He can't even  _eat_ correctly.

"Just trouble with lunch, nothing major," Jason says, sitting down again. Will's still pale, but he looks a little less disconnected from the world, and Nico feels slightly relieved at that. 

Will frowns. "Is that still not getting any better?" he questions. Jason looks ready to stop him as he moves forward and checks Nico's pulse and temperature, but then he just gives up. "Hm. Okay."

Jason just exchanges a confused glance with Nico as Will turns around drags a chair up next to Jason's. Will doesn't seem to notice as he situates himself in the chair, shivering slightly. 

"Okay," he says again. "So, you've met Astrid, right? Oh of course you have." He doesn't wait for Nico to nod, which the other boy doesn't do anyway as a result of his confusion. "Well, as you know, she's pretty small still, but she's got a mean left hook, it turns out. We get a lot of Ares's kids here in the infirmary, unsurprisingly, and one time one of the older kids- Gordon, you may know him- got himself grazed with a poison tipped arrow from one of my siblings when a game of capture the flag crossed paths with target practice. I never found out how they managed that, honestly, I was in here." Will laughs, and Nico rolls his eyes.

"Workaholic," he scolds, and Will just grins.

"Sticks and stones, Nico, sticks and stones," he says. "Anyway, he got grazed by the poison tipped arrow. They don't put enough on the practice arrows to be deadly, but they still rushed him over here as fast as they could. However, because it was a cut instead of a penetrative wound, it was a little slower, and he was convinced the poison just wasn't affecting him because he was too big or something. I don't even know, I don't understand most Ares' kids."

Jason snickers. "They can have a pretty rough exterior sometimes."

"Yeah," Will agrees. "We definitely need them, but they're stubborn assholes when they come to the infirmary. But yeah, so they had to drag him in here, three of the eldest kids using all of their strength to haul this spittin' mad son of Ares into the infirmary to make sure he's not gonna get sick or somehow manage to die from it anyway, and as I was busy with a patient at the time, the first healer to show up was Astrid. She's not all  _that_ short, but he's easily 6'3" and definitely not a lanky build, and he was in a complete rage. I think the poison made him worse, honestly, because I've seen him around before and he's not really all that bad, but the pain or something must have been irritating him, cause he was just yelling at people and taking swings at his siblings. There really was no way for Astrid to look him over and clean out the wound with him swinging around like that, and when one of his fists got a little close to her, she just wound right up and  _fucking decked him_." Will bursts out laughing like he just saw it happen, and Nico finds himself laughing with him. Jason just grins at them both, his eyes laughing along, and Nico knows he's feeling a little better. 

"What happened then?" Nico asks through giggles. It's probably not even that funny, Will's just hysterical right now and it's infectious.

"He was out cold!" Will explodes, dissolving into another fit of laughter. "She nailed him with a left hook right in the jaw and he went down like a pile of rocks!"

Jason laughs along this time and pretty soon they find themselves just laughing hysterically. It's honestly probably not even that funny, but they're all worn down and they need a good laugh, so they take it where they can get it and damn it, they enjoy it. Nico finds himself wiping tears out of the corners of his eyes, and Will's covering his face with his hands as he turns red.

"Sounds like a sight to behold," Jason snickers once they finally calm down enough to talk again. Then he glances at Nico and stops, looking pointedly at his food tray. Nico follows his line of vision before suddenly noticing that almost all of his food is gone again. 

Somehow Will makes it work every time. He just winks at Nico, though, when the smaller boy looks up at him in surprise. "How are your ribs feeling?"

"Better?" Nico says, at a loss as to what exactly he should say. He's definitely done eating by now, but Jason seems happy about it and takes his tray out for him as Will pesters him about pain and movement and other random things. 

"I don't know why they won't just let me handle things again," Will's ranting as he pokes and prods at Nico's arm. 

"Because you're a patient too," Nico scolds. "Now sit the fuck back down and relax."

Will glares at him for a moment before giving in and sitting down. "Fine, but only because I've checked everything already."

Nico rolls his eyes. "Maybe you should try just being calm and letting other people do the work for once in your life," he snarks. "You know, stop for a second and realize there's a whole world outside of the infirmary?"

"You know that that's a little hypocritical of you, right?" Will shoots back. Nico shrugs.

"Do you really think I'd care? Do as I say, not as I do."

"I'm not doing anything you say  _or_ do," Will protests. "I'm just doing my own thing and it's working fine so far."

"Says the guy that got put in a bed in his own infirmary cause he doesn't know when to stop working."

"I know when to. I just also know that I'm needed in here, and now for some reason they've decided I 'need a break' or some bullshit." Will glares at the floor, pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. "I need to get back to work.":

"No, you don't," Nico says, but his tone is a little softer than before. "They're handling things just fine right now. For the time being, your job is keeping me from being bored because I've been bored out of my mind lately and I'm going insane."

"'Going' insane, he says," Will scoffs, but he grins at Nico over the top of his bent knees, and Nico finds himself once again staring at the curl that stubbornly falls over Will's left eye no matter how many times he pushes it away from his face. It draws attention to Will's already striking eyes, and Nico has to force his gaze away.

"Well we can't have two insane people in here at the same time," he says. "So either one of us will have to leave or one of us will have to go sane."

"I don't remember that being a rule," Will laughs. "But whatever you say."

And it's always like that with them, isn't it? Back and forth, sarcasm and laughter. Nico loves it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

" _Sunshine!"_   Will hollers, running around with his arms spread out like a child playing 'airplane.' It's a warm, sunny day, and there's a perfect breeze out. Will and Nico are sitting by the lake to get some fresh air and sunlight (prescribed by Astrid because Will keeps draining himself whenever Nico might possibly be fading the tiniest little bit), and all Nico can do is watch the other boy run around as he himself is stuck sitting as a result of his still healing ribs. He doesn't mind, though. Will's acting like a complete child and he loves it. The head healer is currently spinning in circles and yelling random nonsense at the sun as if it's his actual dad, and Nico can't help laughing a loud, genuine laugh at it. All that seems to do is get Will even more hyper, though, and he may trip several times before running back over to Nico.

"Enjoying yourself?" Nico laughs. 

"I have a really terrible idea," Will says confidentially, a slightly frightening mischievous glint in his eyes. "Really, it's a bad idea."

"What?" Nico asks.

"Lets go canoeing!" 

"What?" Nico asks again. 

"What do you mean what?" Will asks impatiently. "A canoe is a sort of small boat that is-"

"I know what a canoe is," Nico whines. "Stop being an ass."

"Well, then, do you wanna go? It shouldn't be too jarring and we'll stay where the water is shallow so I can pull you out if it flips without hurting your ribs- hopefully. I can't guarantee that one. Never mind. It's a bad idea, like I said." He looks dejected at that and sits down on the ground by Nico. 

"No, I want to try," Nico says, and it's not a lie. It does sound like fun. "We can just go around the edge, right? I'm not sure I can help with it though."

Will immediately perks up. "Oh no worries, I go by myself a lot. It'll be fine. Come on!"

He scrambles to his feet and Nico follows, albeit slowly. Jason may have insisted on carrying him out here instead of letting him walk, but the healers told him it was alright and he has nearly full motion, he's just slow. In under fifteen minutes, they're on the small dock with the canoe right beneath them, and Nico's struggling to figure out how to, well, get in the stupid thing. Will seems undeterred, however, and steps in before offering Nico a hand like a princess exiting a carriage. Nico's absolutely crimson colored by the time Will lifts him up and has gotten him settled in.

"There we go!" he says cheerfully, before grabbing the paddles and using them to push away from the dock. The small boat rocks a little, but the healers have kept Nico from feeling much pain and it hardly bothers him. Will scans his face for any signs of discomfort, but seems satisfied after a moment and begins rowing them away from the dock. 

"Have you ever been in a canoe?" he asks.

"No, not a canoe," Nico says. "Though I've been in a gondola before, which is fun. Venice- the city on water. It's beautiful."

"Oh, you're Italian, aren't you?" Will laughs. "I'd somehow forgotten. That's interesting. I mean, I'm from Texas which is pretty boring."

"How is that boring?" Nico asks. "Isn't that like, the biggest state in America?"

"'Everything's bigger in Texas,'" Will quotes with a laugh. "But no, it's the second biggest. Alaska is the largest."

"Oh." Nico feels embarrassed. "I guess I should have known that."

"How?" Will laughs again. "They don't exactly teach geography here, and I sort of doubt your dad tried homeschooling you in the Underworld."

"That's true," Nico admits. "I'd love to go to New Rome and actually get an education. I wonder if they could help me sort of catch up."

"I'm sure they could," Will says encouragingly. "And if that's something you want, then I say go do it. You need some goals and direction in your life."

"What about you, then?" Nico asks. "Any life goals?"

They've gone fairly far around the edge of the lake, so Will settles the paddles into the boat and leans back, looking the most relaxed that Nico has ever seen him. "I'd actually like to go to New Rome as well. I want to learn more about medicine from a scientific standpoint, you know? The way non-demigods use it. I know a fair bit, but not nearly as much as I'd like to, and as effective as healing songs and magical salves and all that can be, it never hurts to know more. I mean what doesn't sound good about having more tools in your belt, right?"

"Could you really leave the infirmary behind, though?" Nico teases, and Will just fake glares at him. 

"I'd come back every summer!" 

They're flirting. Even Nico can tell. It's not in the words as much as how they're looking at each other right now, but it feels as if it's warming him up from the inside out and he can't help the smile that's on his face. He feels like a fool but for the moment, he doesn't care.

"I could show you around," he offers. "I've been there a few times. I know the ins and outs of the public areas."

"I'd love that." Will's smile seems permanent at the moment, and Nico likes that idea. He likes the idea of always seeing Will look this content and happy. The sun is making his freckles look as if they're glowing, and his blonde curls reflect the light almost like the water around them. He's in complete contrast with Nico, who, despite his smile, is still wearing dark clothing and has his near-permanent dark circles under his eyes. Will's just all golden and bright, but Nico's dark doesn't feel all that bad right now, it just feels calm. Like he's the sanity to Will's crazy, maybe. He loves it.

And that's when it hits him. He loves where he's at, right here and right now. If he could stay right where he is with Will for the rest of his life, he'd be... he'd be happy. 

Will's closer than he remembers him being a second ago, but he doesn't mind. He just smiles and says  _I'm happy_ in the softest tone he can ever recall using. And Will, oh, Will- if he'd thought the other boy was glowing a moment ago, the smile that spreads over his face at that is nearly blinding. 

"That makes me happy," he says to Nico, and it's a whisper, almost as if it's their little secret in this little moment on the lake. 

"Oh?" Nico questions, feeling brave.

"Yeah," Will says, "You know, you're something new that doesn't feel as if it will ever get old. I-" he pauses, seeming frustrated as he searches for words, but the moment is too perfect for anything to ruin. "I don't know how to explain it. But you make me happy."

Nico's heart just might be going a little crazy, but he'll never say that out loud. He doesn't know who he is right now, though, with all of this bravery, and he almost likes it. "You make me feel like- well, you make me  _feel._ That's all I could ask for in a..." he can't make himself say the word  _friend._ Not right now and not about Will. 

Will sees right through it and smiles that blinding smile again. "Don't say it," he says, "you'll spoil the moment."

"What moment?" Nico asks just to be a pain in the ass because it's his defense mechanism, but Will isn't bothered by it.

"The one right now," he says, "that I can tell you see as well."

It's pretty much all out there at this point, and Nico feels a little like he's going to throw up as Will looks right at him, but it's not necessarily bad. He's just never done this before, never seen what he was feeling reflected in the eyes of the person looking at him. 

"Has anyone ever told you before that you're beautiful?" he says, and Will looks startled, as if Nico beat him to it. It surprised Nico as well, but he'll never take it back. 

"No, as a matter of fact they have not," he says, "but-"

"Well, it's true." Nico's sticking to it even if he doesn't really know what came over him. "Maybe it sounds girly or whatever, but I don't care. I just- I had to say it for some reason."

Will's eyes look a little glassy and his eyelashes are wet, and Nico almost wants to kick himself for not saying it sooner, but really, he's changed so much over the past several weeks, he never would have said it before right now. But he's feeling brave and not quite like the scared little kid everyone thinks he is when they're not terrified of him, and he's going to say what he thinks to Will because he really, really likes him. 

"I don't- " Will's speechless. "I was going to argue with you, but it will never work." He laughs breathlessly.

"Damn right," Nico says stubbornly. "I somehow beat you in an argument  _and_ rendered you speechless with one sentence."

"You took me by surprise!" Will protests. 

"Well maybe if you'd try it sometime, it would work fo-"

Will seems to read his mind, because suddenly he's gently cupping Nico's face and leaning in, kissing him innocently on the cheek before drawing back slightly to stare at Nico's open mouth.

"It's a nice feeling," he agrees pleasantly. "I didn't even have to say anything."

Nico stutters for a minute, face flushed, but nothing coherent comes out and he gives up. "Fine. We'll call it a tie."

"How about best two out of three," Will says, his hand still on Nico's face, and then he kisses him full on the mouth.

Nico might let out a surprised squeak, but he adjusts quickly and his arms go up over Will's shoulders and wrap loosely around his neck as he clumsily but enthusiastically kisses him back. 

"Hey guys!" calls a cheery voice as they hear some water splash on the left side of the boat. "Oh my gods!"

It's Percy. Percy fucking Jackson. He's popped his head up out of the water just in time to catch sight of them and Nico- 

Nico bursts out laughing louder and harder than he ever has in his entire life. It's absolutely embarrassing, but Will's got the most ridiculous fake pout on his face and Percy looks genuinely shocked and Nico just  _loves it_.

Will caves and laughs with Nico, and Percy grabs the edge of the canoe and glares at them accusingly. "How long has this been going on?" he demands, but they just laugh harder. "Guys!"

"Oh quit whining," Nico giggles finally. "It just happened."

"Oh, okay. Wait. Like right now?" Percy asks.

"Yeah, like right now," Will says.

"Oh my gods, I ruined the moment." Percy looks genuinely upset about it, but Nico just wipes laughter-tears out of his eyes for the second time this week and shakes his head.

"It's alright, I haven't laughed that hard in a long time," he says, and Percy looks a little less upset. 

"Can I tell Jason?"

"What?"

"He told me I couldn't say anything so now I have to go tell him it happened without me!" Percy explains impatiently. 

"Couldn't say anything about what?" Will asks, confused.

"You two being like, totally in love!" Percy yells, gesturing wildly. Nico turns a violent shade of pink. 

"What do you mean he told you that you couldn't say anything?" he demands. Percy suddenly looks like a deer in the headlights. 

"Nothing!" he squeaks out.

"Percy Jackson!" Nico yells after the older boy as he quickly drops underwater and disappears from sight. "Ugh, I give up. I'll get it out of him later."

When he turns back to Will, the other boy has a fondly amused look on his face, and Nico has trouble meeting his eyes. It's a force of habit, he struggles with the reality that some people care, so he makes himself meet Will's blues and he smiles. 

It's a huge step in a direction he never thought he would go. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just uploading this chapter because I am beyond tired and I need sleep and I don't even remember what I wrote as having happened in it so hey, when I get up tomorrow it'll be like I'm reading it for the first time too! I hope it's not shit but it probably is lmao don't cringe too much plz


	9. Chapter 9

"To be fair, I only ever talked about it when Percy brought up trying to make it happen," Jason defends himself. Nico's straight up got his hands on his hips, and Will thinks he looks adorable. 

"Trying to make it happen?" Nico questions.

"Yeah," Jason laughs. "He kept coming up with the craziest plans to make you guys confess your feelings, or something. He meant it well...I just didn't think it would be appreciated..." 

Nico grimaces. "Yeah, I don't think it would have been." He drops his hands from his hips to reach out for one of Will's, and Will finds himself smiling stupidly as their fingers tangle. "If my ribs weren't still fucked up I'd go chase that asshole down." He's laughing, though, so Jason doesn't look worried about the threat. 

"Yeah, I think he went to hide at the bottom of the lake once you guys were done outside. He'll get hungry eventually, though."

"Speaking of which," Will interrupts, "we should go get some food. Don't think I've forgotten."

"Uuuuuuuuuugh." Nico suddenly goes full child with him and drops his weight into Will's side with a dramatic groan. "I'm not hungryyyyyy, Will."

"Did I ask?" Will mock glares down at him. "Now come on, you big baby. Don't make me carry you."

"Ugh, fine." Nico follows Will's lead with a pout on his face, but he's obedient as Will picks food for him and finds them a place to sit, Jason not far behind them.

"Hey," Annabeth greets as they sit at her table. "How are you feeling, Nico?"

"Alright, though my obnoxious healer is force feeding me," Nico complains.

"Oh shut up." Will rolls his eyes and whacks Nico's hand with the fork when he won't take it. "Don't make me actually spoon feed you."

"Gross." Nico takes the fork and stabs his food a little aggressively, but he takes a bite anyway, and Will looks self-satisfied. "You're not even my healer anymore."

"You're the one that called me that," Will retorts.

"Can you believe this weather?" Percy asks in a light tone as he slides into the seat across from Will.

Nico's glare could curdle milk. "Jackson."

"DiAngelo?" Percy says in mock innocence.

"You owe me an explanation," Nico says, even though he already got one. Will thinks he just likes seeing Percy squirm.

"We just wanted you to be happy!" Percy bursts out in protest, and Annabeth sets her fork down and crosses her arms.

"Percy Jackson, what have you done now?" she demands. Will bites back a laugh at the look of revelation on Nico's face before it suddenly becomes the most piteous expression he's ever seen on the other boy's face.

"Percy was picking on me and Will," he pouts. "And he ran away when I was trying to figure out what he was talking about. He wouldn't even talk to me."

"Hey!" Percy protests. "It's not as mean as it sounds!"

"Percy-" Annabeth starts, and Percy gets panicky.

" _Will and Nico are together!_ " he yells as a distraction, and Nico flinches as every single camper around them suddenly turns around in their seat to stare openly at them.

"Really?" Annabeth asks excitedly, and it seems like Percy's distraction was successful.

"Um..." Nico shifts uncomfortably.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry," Percy looks genuinely sorry. "I panicked, and you're holding hands anyway..."

"So?" Nico snaps at him. "You're just trying to get out of trouble!" 

"You guys are so cute!" one of the Aphrodite girls yells to them, and Will smiles and waves. 

"Damn straight," he says, and Nico rolls his eyes. 

"Not straight," he says. Jason groans. 

"No, no puns," he begs. "You all give me a headache."

"Did someone say  _Nico and Will?_ " Leo appears out of nowhere. "I've been waiting  _far too long_ for this!"

"Leo, you've been back less than a week," Percy points out. 

"Yeah!" Leo nods solemnly. "Too long, I say. What took you two nitwits so long?"

"I dunno," Nico snarks, "we didn't all get forced alone together on a mysterious island for the sole purpose of falling in love or however that goes."

"You're right, you were only forced alone together in the infirmary where Will quite dramatically nursed you back to health before his own deteriorated and he found himself in the room next door to yours which resulted in you both eventually growing closer through being stuck together in the infirmary with nothing to do but gaze into each other's eyes," Leo sasses back in one breath. "Sounds like some sappy war drama to me."

"Whatever makes you feel better, Valdez," Nico replies.

"We're really happy for you," Jason says, interrupting their bickering, and Nico can't help but smile back at the friend who started all of this. He owes Jason a lot for opening him up to this whole new world. 

 

 

 

 

"Watch the ribs," Will bitches at Nico as they climb the steps outside the infirmary.

"Oh trust me, I'm the one that feels the pain from them," Nico rolls his eyes. "But thanks, mom."

"You may not want to call your boyfriend mom," Will tells him as they enter Nico's room. "It might make things awkward."

"Sorry," Nico replies, "do you prefer 'daddy'?" 

Will stares at him in open shock. "When the hell did you stop being innocent?" he asks in mock disbelief, and Nico throws a pillow at him. 

"Fuck you," he whines.

"Not with those broken ribs," Will tells him, going through the cabinet for his pain meds. Nico puts on his best bitch face, but Will doesn't seem to notice when he turns around and hands Nico the medicine. "Take it with water or you'll choke." Nico pointedly dry swallows the pill and Will just rolls his eyes. "You're a pain in the ass."

"I know. But you're stuck with me, so now I'm  _your_ pain in the ass," Nico says, and it sounds so much like something that  _Will_ would say but Nico doesn't care- he likes it, actually; loves that they're rubbing off on each other. 

"Yeah, I guess you are," Will agrees, sitting on the bed by Nico, both of them leaning up against the wall. "Kind of blindsided me there."

"What do you mean?" Nico asks. 

"Well, I didn't exactly expect to find myself with a boyfriend when Jason popped in that day to tell me that Frank and Percy had hauled your unconscious ass in here. Or, I suppose, when you first showed up here at camp looking like you'd murder anyone who came within ten feet of you."

"Yeah, well," Nico splutters, "I didn't think I'd wanna date the bossy, pain in the ass healer that was determined to force me into health, but here we are."

"'Force you into health,'" Will chuckles. "Well, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Still am, you scrawny bean pole."

"Shut up," Nico glowers at him.

"Nah, I think I'll just sass you for the rest of your life," Will says with a fond smile that betrays his words.

"I was afraid you'd say that."

"I bet you were."

 

 

 

Will ends up holding true to that promise. Nico really doesn't mind. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, this is officially the last chapter of this story. I'm so, so sorry it took so long but things have been pretty shit lately and my motivation for anything is about zero. I at least hope you've loved it so far, and I'm planning on writing more Solangelo fics, so feel free to check back with my account soon and I'll try to get something going quickly :) I have plans for either a youtuber au or a college au involving Nico with his family, Will in med school, and artistic!Will. We'll see. Feel free to put in a vote on either if you'd like. I'm also working on an original story I'd love to hear from people on. It's called Blank Space and no, it doesn't have anything to do with the song. It's a soulmate boarding school story, and some parts of it are actually NOT fictitious, though the majority of it is. (I'm not rich nor am I a guy...but some of the events are based on my own experiences). Anyway, I hope you've all enjoyed reading this fic!


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